The Road Not Taken Paradigm
by notjaneausten
Summary: Imagine a world where Mary Cooper has been trying to get Sheldon to meet the daughter of Meemaw's Godddaugher, Iris; for years Sheldon has managed to avoid meeting her, but now that he is working on his Doctorate in California and Iris lives in Glendale; Mary wants him to spend Thanksgiving with them...and Sheldon would rather keep studying... Usual disclaimer applies.
1. Chapter 1

"Shelly, you may be some hot shot college graduate now; but may I remind you that you are still a minor? Don't think that just because you're nearly sixteen that I won't take you over my knee for talking back to your Mama." Sheldon clearly heard the exasperation in his Mother's voice coming over the telephone wire and responded with a sigh.

"But Mother, I don't want to spend Thanksgiving with a bunch of strangers…I would rather carry on living on campus and continuing with my studies."

"Sheldon, they wouldn't be strangers if you hadn't kept coming up with some random excuses not to meet them! Iris your Meemaw's Goddaughter and you've never once hung around long enough to meet her and her family."

"Mother! I have **not **been making up random excuses and resent any implications that I have! Working on my college degree and then studying for my first doctorate has consumed my life and now that I am so close to finishing….I would have hoped that you, of all people would have understood that! It was you and Meemaw that agreed that I would benefit more out of moving to California…whereas I was quite happy to continue my studies at Rice." Sheldon's tone was rising in pitch and Mary Cooper knew that her son was likely working himself up into a terrible state of anxiety.

"Shelly, settle down...we all discussed this together, remember?" Mary kept her tone soft and soothing as she tried to calm her teenage son, suddenly 1400 miles seemed further than ever.

"Eidetic memory, Mother; of course I remember." Sheldon muttered as he slumped into his desk chair, keeping the phone propped between his ear and shoulder blade. "Meemaw brought over a plate of brownies that were still worn from the oven, and you took me out into the kitchen where you had laid out a series of university letters that had arrived in the post. I hadn't even applied anywhere else and you said that all of them had come to me rather than me having to fill in all of those dreaded applications."

"That's right, Shelly…all of those universities wanted **you**, and all you wanted to do was to stay where you were comfortable; it took Meemaw and I the whole day to make you see that there was a whole world out there for you to choose from, and you finally picked California because…?"

"…Because I wanted to go and have breakfast with Mickey Mouse."

"And have you?" Mary asked, already knowing what the answer was likely to be.

"Not yet, I've been too busy." Sheldon answered a little distractedly, his fingers moving swiftly over the keyboard of his desktop computer.

"Sheldon honey, I'm worried about you. George has nearly finished up at the community college and with Missy still in High School…I want you to be able to have a family Thanksgiving, and since I can't be there with you, Iris has very kindly invited you to join theirs. It will just be Iris and her daughter, Iris's husband passed away a few years ago. Promise me that you'll at least think about it?"

"Very well, Mother…but I make no promises." Sheldon sighed again as he looked at the clock, "Mother, I have to go soon; it's nearly eight ten and I have to go and do my laundry in five minutes. I'll e-mail you once I've made my decision."

"Okay, Sheldon…I'll call you next week…oh, and if you do go to Iris's; be nice to her daughter won't you? She's having a hard time at school and I don't want you making things awkward for her."

"Mother…" Sheldon whined in an exaggerated tone, knowing that his mother would like nothing better than for him to find a nice girl, settle down and move back to Texas to raise a bunch of noisy, smelly babies.

"Sheldon…" Mary mimicked his tone and he knew that was his cue to act like the gentleman he was brought up to be.

"Sorry, Mama…" He apologised and Mary smiled into the phone.

"Be nice, Sheldon. Iris said that her daughter's a little like you…skipped a few grades in school and is now studying biology or chemistry; or something like that in California. She's only just turned fifteen a few months ago and is finding it hard to find her feet…you may just have more in common with each other than you think."

"All right, I really have to go now Mother, speak to you soon...love you, bye!" Sheldon held the phone away from his ear and replaced the receiver gently back into its cradle with his Mother still speaking; it was past eight fifteen and his overflowing laundry basket beckoned him like a siren. Had he held onto the receiver just a moment later, he would have heard his Mother mentioning Iris's daughter by name…Amy Farrah Fowler.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mother, I'm home! I have some exciting news!" Amy strode through the front door of her Mother's small house in Glendale, and placed her heavy book bag on the hallway table.

"I'm in the kitchen, dear!" Iris's soft voice called out and Amy walked down the hall and found her Mother pouring over recipe books at the kitchen counter. "Tea?"

"Lemon zest, please." Amy requested as she hopped up onto a stool and flipped over a couple of pages in the recipe books strewn across the counter. "Hmm…that stuffing recipe looks appealing."

"Yes, I thought I might try something different for Thanksgiving this year." Iris hummed under her breath as she carefully poured the hot, but not boiling, water over the teabag and set the mug gently down on a coaster in front of her daughter. She brushed a stray strand of hair away from Amy's face and tucked it behind her ear. "Now what did you want to tell me, dear?"

"Oh, well it's about Thanksgiving really…I've been offered a marvellous opportunity that will further my studies exponentially, but I really don't have to go…I could wait and hope to be offered a place over the summer…" Amy pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and worried it slightly with her teeth, afraid that her Mother would take it as a slight if her only child preferred to spend the Holidays away from her family.

"Tell me about it, dear and we can decide together. I don't want you to miss out on something wonderful if there's even the slightest chance that it won't be offered to you again." Iris patted Amy's hand gently and took a seat on the stool opposite, gently closing the recipe books and setting them aside.

"Well, you know that our college has been collaborating with a lab over in Norway to study the effects of how certain animalistic behaviours can be linked to human genomes?" Amy started to speak enthusiastically and Iris saw a look of enthusiasm in her daughter's eyes for the first time since she started college.

"Not really, dear, but go on."

"Well, I have been asked to take part in the student exchange programme, they want me to go over to Norway for the rest of the semester and share my findings with the leader of the study over there! Me, Mother! Out of all of the students taking part in the study, they actually chose me!" Amy rocked forward on her stool and tucked her hands under her thighs in an effort to control her excitement.

"When would they expect you to go?" Iris asked quietly, her hopes for a happy Thanksgiving with her daughter and possibly the grandson of her dear Godmother set aside due to the spark that had rekindled her daughter's thirst for knowledge.

"We would fly out the fortnight before Thanksgiving and return on the 22nd December; they've asked that if it is successful they may even ask me to go back over in the New Year!"

"That's next week, Amy! It doesn't give us a lot of time to get ready…" Iris calmly rose up from the counter and picked up Amy's empty mug to set it in the sink for washing.

"So you're okay with me going away? You're not upset that I'll miss Thanksgiving?" Amy looked over at her Mother with surprise, Iris crossed back over to gently run a hand over Amy's soft and silky hair.

"I'll miss you, of course, and I was hoping that you could finally meet Aunt Ellie's Grandson…but this is one of those rare opportunities that don't come along very often Amy. When they do, you should grab on with both hands and never let go. I love you, and I only want what is best for you. Now, let's go upstairs and see what we have and then we can sit down and make a list of anything that we need to buy."

"What about Thanksgiving? All of your plans?" Amy reached over to grasp her Mother's hand tightly, and felt Iris give her a gentle squeeze in return.

"Maybe I'll have Aunt Flora over from the rest home for the day; it might do her good to get away. Ellie said that Sheldon was likely to come up with some excuse or another why he couldn't attend, so I might just cancel it all and spend the day at the home instead. Don't worry about me, honey…I'll be just fine." The pair of them walked up the stairs and flung open Amy's wardrobe doors to start sifting through her clothes. Amy sat on the edge of her bed and ran a hand over the patterns in her bedspread.

"So, what's this Sheldon like and why haven't I heard of him before?"

"You have dear, Aunt Ellie refers to him as 'Moonpie' and Aunt Mary often calls him 'Shelly'." Replied Iris, her voice muffled from where she was kneeling at the back of the wardrobe.

"Missy's brother is called Sheldon? I thought when Aunt Mary called and said Shelly was working on a doctorate over at CalTech that she was referring to another daughter. So Shelly is really Sheldon…hmm."

"Hmmm? And what does 'hmmm' mean, exactly young lady?" Iris poked her head through the thick corduroy skirts hanging at precise intervals in the wardrobe and looked over at her daughter.

"Oh, nothing; it's just a little strange thinking of Shelly as a boy, that's all. When Missy wrote that Shelly had stolen her Easybake oven; I just always thought that Aunt Mary had George and then twin girls."

"No, dear; Sheldon is definitely a boy. Mary said that he's just received his first Doctorate and has just moved over to CalTech to start work on his second, I think she said he was studying particles or something…"

"Theoretical particle physics…mmm, interesting choice of study." Amy murmured, "I might need to read up on his papers…you know, just on the off chance that we finally get to meet. I've met everyone else, just not Sheldon."

"You could always not go to Norway and take the chance that he accepts the invitation to dinner…" Iris murmured distractedly, as she flicked through Amy's assorted plaid blouses neatly folded in the drawers of her dresser. It never ceased to amaze her how Amy would refold and resort her clothes whenever Iris would bring her laundry up to her room.

"No!" Amy sat upright on the bed and looked at her Mother with an expression that was akin to horror. "Give up the chance to study the neurochemistry of a primate's brain simply to meet someone that has managed to avoid me for the past fifteen years! I don't think so!"

"Yes, dear. That's what I thought you'd say, now can we get on with making that list now that you've finished mooning over Sheldon Cooper?"

"I was not mooning over anyone!" Amy retorted and missed the faint smile that crossed over Iris's face as she turned back to the dresser.

"Whatever you say, dear. Mary sent me an e-mail with a link in it...I believe Sheldon had an article published in some sciency magazine a few months back…his doctorate thesis is on there too, she thought you might be interested in that one as well…" Iris found herself talking to thin air, as Amy ran out of the room and into the small study to fire up the communal computer they both shared. "Yes, that's what I thought…" She murmured as she finished going through Amy's clothes with a smile on her face. "Don't worry, dear, you'll meet him soon enough if Mary and I have anything to do with it."


	3. Chapter 3

The incessant ringing of the telephone distracted Sheldon from scribbling equations on the whiteboard behind him, and he glanced around the empty classroom looking for the source of the noise. It finally occurred to him to check his new cellphone that he'd slipped into his briefcase when he'd left the hotel that morning.

"Hello, Doctor Sheldon Cooper speaking; state your business."

"Moonpie, is that anyway to speak to your grandma?"

"Meemaw!" A bright smile immediately crossed over Sheldon's face as he heard the familiar tones of his beloved Meemaw coming through the tiny speaker. "I received your care package that you had sent to the hotel; boy, those cookies were good!"

"Glad to hear you enjoyed them, Moonpie. How are you enjoying your lecture tour?"

"Oh, it's ghastly! I'm only glad that Harvard is the last one on the list and then I can return home to Pasadena. Who would have thought that one little paper that I wrote as part of my thesis would have meant that I had to travel halfway around the country giving talks on the darned thing…I knew I should have read the small print before I signed that contract!" Sheldon sighed heavily as he sat down in the leather chair behind the lectern and started rearranging his presentation notes unnecessarily.

"What contract is that, Moonpie?"

"Oh, CalTech have offered me the position of Senior Theorectical Particle Physicist; as soon as they received word that parts of my thesis had been published they offered me a job before I'd even finished the rest of my doctorate. I start work as soon as I get back." Sheldon sighed again as his notes were completely out of order now, and he would have to start again from scratch.

"You don't sound too happy about the prospect of working there, Shelly. You've been there working on your doctorate for a while, ever think about moving on?" Meemaw heard the sighs and could almost see her Grandson's worried expression as if he were sitting right in front of her.

"No, I like California…it's neither too hot nor too cold, I've grown used to my apartment now; although my roommate has given me notice that he intends to move out…do you know how hard it was to find a suitable person to live with in the first place?"

"Why don't you put up flyers in the university then? If you're looking for someone with similar interests that won't mind putting up with your whiteboards that sounds like the only sensible solution." Meemaw suggested softly, and Sheldon pursed his lips as he thought about the suggestion.

"Hmm…you might be onto something there, Meemaw. He isn't moving out until the end of the school year; so that gives me until then to advertise and interview suitable applicants. I have to go soon, as my lecture will be starting shortly."

"That's why I was calling, Iris told me that Amy was going to try and pop in to see you at some time today."

"Amy?" Sheldon repeated, utterly at a loss as to why his Meemaw would be giving out his location to random women. He recognised Iris as being the name of Meemaw's goddaughter, but the name 'Amy' completely escaped him.

"Iris's daughter; she's studying science at Harvard…this is her last year and then she will be a Doctor just like you, Moonpie."

"Ah yes, the girl that moved to Norway when she found out I had been invited to Thanksgiving dinner." Sheldon mused and Meemaw chuckled heartily down the phone at him.

"She didn't move to Norway because of you, she was over there until Christmas and then she went back in January to finish off some research. Amy finished college in '98 and then went straight onto Harvard from there. I hear she's been offered a job at UCLA come the new year; ain't that up the road aways from where you are?"

"Meemaw, the distance between UCLA and CalTech varies between 23.1 and 28.6 miles depending on the route taken; so yes, by your definition I guess you could class that as being up the road 'aways'. She must be good if UCLA have offered her a contract before her studies have been completed."

"Like someone else I know." Meemaw chuckled again and Sheldon gave a little chuckle of his own, which was no more than a hitched breath, but for him that was almost like a belly laugh. "Good to hear you laughing again, Moonpie. I'm gonna let you go 'enlighten some young minds', ain't that what you said to me last week?"

"Yes, Meemaw; exactly that. Take care of yourself, and I love you." Sheldon whispered into the phone, noticing the students slowly entering the lecture hall; Meemaw said her goodbyes and Sheldon disconnected the call, before placing the phone back into his briefcase. He waited until the students had all filed in and taken their seats before walking over to stand behind the lectern.

"Good afternoon everyone, my name is Doctor Sheldon Cooper. I would like to introduce you to the fascinating world of string theory. What is string theory you might ask? Well, to answer that question we have to look a little further back into the past…" Sheldon flicked a switch and the lights dimmed in the hall and the large projector screen lit up with a scene of a starry night sky. He took a deep breath and straightened his plaid suit jacket as he settled into his lecture. "The word physics comes from the ancient Greek word 'physika'. Physika means the science of natural things, and it is there in Ancient Greece that our story begins…"

Over in the neurochemistry lab on the other side of the campus, Amy rose up from her stool and cracked her spine back into place as she moved out of the hunched over position that she had been sitting in for most of the morning. She glanced over at the clock on the wall and swore under her breath.

"My mother is going to kill me…"

"What was that Amy?" Janice, a fellow lab rat asked as she crossed over the room to store her notes away in the filing cabinet in the corner.

"I promised my mother that I would head over to sit in on a lecture this afternoon. Her godmother's grandson is on a lecture tour presenting part of his doctoral thesis and she wanted me to meet him. I kept trying to tell her that we've managed to successfully avoid running into each other for the better part of nineteen years now, but she still insisted…and you know how difficult it is for me to say 'no' to my mother."

"Yeah, that's why you're still gonna be living at home with her when you start at UCLA." Janice said with a grin, and Amy looked down at her fingers that were twisting themselves together in her lap.

"It's not that I don't want to get a place of my own, because I do. I would be able to afford a one bedroom place with the substantial salary that UCLA are offering, but I don't want to upset her…it was hard enough for her when I moved all the way out here to study rather remaining closer to home."

"Don't worry about it so much, finish up your work here; move in with your Mother for a while and then start looking for a place once you're settled. You don't have to make all of the decisions as soon as you get home; leave it for a while and then decide." Janice nudged Amy's shoulder lightly, although the two of them weren't close friends, they lived only a few rooms apart on campus and often shared small details of their home lives with each other whenever they were alone in the lab.

"Thank you, Janice. I'd better walk over and see if I can't catch the last few minutes of Sheldon's lecture…at least then I won't have to lie when I speak with Aunt Mary again. I can tell her honestly that I heard her son's lecture on particle physics; especially if I manage to catch anything worth remembering!"

"Make sure you take note of what he's wearing, I've seen some of those science geeks and let me tell you, they sure dress up weirdly sometimes! That may score you more points with his Mother, especially if it's something she bought for him."  
>"Noted." Amy nodded as she waved goodbye and started walking quickly across campus. She noticed a lot of mutterings from the students around her, but didn't pay attention to which hall they had poured out of en masse. She checked the room numbers against the notation she'd made from her Mother's e-mail and slowly opened the door to reveal…a completely empty lecture hall.<p>

"If you've come to hear Doctor Cooper's lecture on particle physics, you're too late. It finished about ten minutes ago when he noticed that the students were all falling asleep in their chairs. I think he just let them sleep and walked away; I got here just in time to see the last of the slideshow finishing up and people waking up." A short skinny looking guy with a Beatles style haircut walked over to where Amy was standing in the doorway and offered his hand with a slight bow. "Enchante, mademoiselle."

"Umm, hello." Amy said hesitantly and reluctantly shook his hand. "What am I going to tell my Mother? I promised her that I would come over to watch Sheldon and I missed him yet again! I don't suppose you happened to catch what he was wearing did you? I need something to tell her, so that she will at least think that I tried."

"Hmm, by all accounts a rather garish blue plaid suit." The young man gave a little shiver, and Amy looked over at his own choice of clothing; skin tight jeans, a bright yellow v-neck sweater with a pale green turtleneck; she wisely refrained from commenting and just gave a small smile of thanks, before turning to leave the lecture hall.

"Hey!" The man called out as she stepped through the doorway, Amy paused and turned to look back. "A group of us came over from MIT to hear the lecture, if you want I can see whether any of them managed to stay awake for it?"

"Thank you for the offer, but it is not necessary. I will simply describe how the lecture was wonderful and what Sheldon wore; Aunt Mary will be satisfied with that I am sure…My Mother may be more difficult to persuade, but I am sure I will manage. Thank you again, and goodbye." Amy gave a small wave and the young man watched her walk away, admiring the way that her corduroy skirt moulded itself around her buttocks, his gaze slipped down her legs encased in thick purple tights and down to her sensible walking shoes. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he flipped it open to greet the caller.

"Hi, Ma…nah, just over at Harvard with some of the guys…Hey, guess what? I've just met my future wife...her name? Oh, shoot – I completely forgot to ask!" He stared down the now empty corridor and realised that he'd just let her slip straight through his hands. "Never mind, false alarm…no, I don't want you sending over any more 'care packages'…Ma, the brisket leaked everywhere and I couldn't get the smell out of the carpet for days! Listen I have to go, the guys are ready to leave now…yeah, love you too, bye!" He looked down the corridor again and sighed heavily before running his hands through his hair and walking slowly away. "I wonder if it was the hair…Maybe I should try a perm?"


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: So, did you guess who the young man visiting from MIT was? The question remains, will he recognise her when they meet again in the future? Up next, Amy is looking to move out of her Mother's house and Sheldon is looking for a new roommate – Mary has a solution to both of their problems, but will Sheldon be willing to listen?**

Sheldon walked the corridors of CalTech pinning up his advertisements on every noticeboard he could find; that is every noticeboard contained within a department he found acceptable. He skipped Humanities and Personnel completely, the thought of sharing his home with someone from there was completely alien to him, no he was better off sticking to the sciences. His current roommate had decided that he could no longer bear the thought of spending the rest of the year in close proximity and had announced his intention to move out almost immediately. This roommate had only lasted six months, and Sheldon really didn't know what was wrong with the people around here. He'd taken Meemaw's advice and advertised the vacancy within the university and had found a young Asian grad student in need of a place to stay. Their problems had started almost as soon as the boy had moved in, leaving take out cartons on the side board, wet towels on the bathroom floor and on more than one occasion, Sheldon had walked into the living room to find complete strangers camping out sleeping off a night on the town. When he'd complained to the boy yet again, the boy had nothing to say except that Sheldon was a freak and he was moving out as soon as he found somewhere else to go. So here he was, pinning up more advertisements in a desperate attempt to find another suitable roommate – only this time, Sheldon Cooper had a plan. He had devised a series of tests in which he would be able to ascertain quickly whether the potential candidate was worthy of sharing his home; he'd also written up a binding 'Roommate Agreement' which clearly stated the rights and responsibilities of said candidate; however, there had been no candidates at all so far, and this was the third week of advertising and Chung-Hee had stated that this would be his last week living under Sheldon's roof.

When Sheldon got home later that evening, he breathed a sigh of relief to find the apartment empty of Chung-Hee's presence. He set his bag down near his desk and took a seat in his lawn chair, spaced exactly in the right position in the living room so that he caught a cross breeze in the summer, but was out of the draft in the winter. No sooner had he settled down, the landline rang.

"Hello, Cooper here; state your business."

"Shelly, it's your Mother."

"I know Mother, I recognised your voice. You don't have to state who you are whenever you call; only you, Meemaw and Missy have this number and I am sure I can tell all of your voices apart by now." Sheldon sighed as he shifted in the chair trying to get comfortable.

"You'd better not be sassing me, boy." Mary warned, and Sheldon sighed more heavily into the phone.

"No, Ma'am. It's just been a long day, and I spent the last two hours pinning up more posters around the university."

"Well, that's just what I was callin' about, snickerdoodle! I may just have the solution to your problem." Mary announced happily, certain that what she was about to suggest would be the answer to both of their prayers.

"Do tell, I am as they say 'all ears'." Sheldon shifted the phone to the crook of his neck as he reached over to switch on the television; which apart from the two lawn chairs and the three whiteboards propped up against the walls, were the only furniture in the apartment.

"What if I were to say that I've found you the perfect roommate; a scientist like yourself, that likes things orderly and neat and doesn't mind a bit about driving you around town on your little errands."

"I would say that sounds great, Mother; but as I am not aware that any such person exists, I will wait for you to say 'bazinga'." Sheldon flicked through the stations, searching for something to capture his attention; an advertisement for a science fiction show caught his eye before he grimaced once he realised it was actually for Babylon 5, a pitiful excuse for a tv show if ever there was one.

"No bazinga, Shelly. I'm deadly serious, I'm offering you the chance to have a roommate with a real live PhD, a graduate from Harvard University that is working over at UCLA on some sort of primate study…"

"Don't tease me like that, Mother…when can he move in?" Sheldon suddenly sat up in his lawn chair, poised to take down all of the relevant details; his mind racing over all of the fascinating conversations that could take place very shortly within these very four walls.

"Not a he, Shelly…a she." Mary held her breath as she let the news sink in, there was a moment of silence and then Sheldon started ranting as he rose up from the lawn chair and paced around the living room.

"And this is where you definitely need to say bazinga…Mother, I can't share an apartment with a girl! Besides, you said when I moved out here, that you wouldn't condone any sinnin' and that if I ever contemplated on living with a female of the species it would be within the sanctity of marriage."

"Now Shelly, I won't hear any more talk about sinnin', ya hear me, son? Amy is a sweet, young girl who is as dedicated to her profession as you are. She's looking at moving out of her Mama's house and was thinking about moving into a place of her own; I was the one that brought up the idea that she might want to think about getting a roommate and then Meemaw mentioned that you were having problems with that quiet little Asian boy…Chee-Hung, isn't it?"

"Chung-Hee…yes, he is moving out this weekend. Listen, Mother, Amy sounds like a lovely person; but do you really think that a young woman should be contemplating moving in with a virile young man, such as myself, who might find himself overcome with desire for her nubile young body?" Sheldon stopped talking as he heard the sound of his Mother's laughter coming down the line. "Mother? Mother?"

"Oh, Shelly…" Mary eventually stopped laughing long enough to speak. "If I even thought there was a grain of truth in that whole statement, do you really think I would have suggested Amy as a roommate? Now, you have three days to find a new roommate, otherwise I'll inform Amy that she can move in from Monday. Night, son."

"Night, Mother…love you."

"I love you, too. Three days, snickerdoodle." Sheldon hung up the phone and braced himself with his lean arms on the kitchen counter. He would have to seriously consider lowering his standards, otherwise he could very well face spending the next ten years sharing a bathroom with a female roommate… The telephone suddenly rang again, and he snatched it up; praying to the non-existent deity his Mother referred to as 'God'.

"Hello, Cooper here; state your business." Sheldon answered bluntly, and heard a slightly breathy sigh from the other end.

"Um…Doctor Cooper? My name is Doctor Hofstadter and I've seen your advertisement at the university…" The hesitant voice on the phone was definitely male, so that was a plus in his favour already.

"Yes, and what department do you hail from? Because, I have to tell you know, if this is someone from the Humanities area – then you are out of luck."

"Um…experimental physics? I just started a few weeks ago…"

"Are you asking me or telling me? Because you don't sound that sure yourself."

"No, I'm sure, experimental physics. As I was saying…"

"Yes, yes, yes. My address is 2311 Los Robles Avenue, apartment 4A. Come over on Saturday around ten in the morning and we can discuss your suitability. Good evening, Doctor Hofstadter." Sheldon didn't wait for a response, he simply placed the telephone back in the cradle and crossed over to his lawn chair once again, stretching out his legs in front of him. "Now, shall I tell Mother now, or wait until Saturday? Hmm…what to do…" He tapped his finger against his chin thoughtfully, and happened to glance at his watch. "Mmm…nine o'clock, time for bed. Mother will just have to wait, I hope Amy won't be too disappointed at the fact she has lost me as a potential roommate." Sheldon switched off the television and the small lamp on the floor, before making his way through the dark apartment to his bedroom. "She did sound fascinating…" He murmured to himself as he removed his clothes, carefully placing them in his laundry basket and selecting his Wednesday pyjamas from his dresser drawers. He walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth, and pursed his lips when he saw yet another damp towel strewn across the floor. Carefully, stepping around the bacteria infested article he completed his nightly ritual and made his way back into his bedroom. As he settled down into bed and assumed his sleeping position (covers barely disturbed, lying flat on his back with his arms folded across his chest), his mind ran over everything his Mother had told him about Amy… "Stop it, Sheldon and go to sleep. You are not taking in a female as your roommate, so put her out of your mind!" He told himself firmly and closed his eyes, determined to use the Vulcan art of Kolinhar to force his mind to empty itself out of all unnecessary thoughts. "I am the master of my own body…I am the master of my own mind…I am the master of my own body…" Repeating the chant under his breath, Sheldon exhaled slowly one more time before he felt himself slipping away into a dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Nearly four years later, Mary called Sheldon for their once a month Skype session. She noticed his expression was a little glum and asked what the matter was.

"Lou is moving out; he called round this morning to give me the news."

"That's the one that liked to go out dressed as a woman from across the hall, right?"

"Yeah, that man knew how to organise. You should have seen his wardrobe; everything was arranged according to whether it was daytime or evening wear…"

"Sheldon…" Mary's tone held a note of warning, and he looked up with a startled expression.

"Mother! I was helping him run cables through the back for his stereo and video equipment. How many more times do I have to inform you that I do not possess latent homosexual tendencies? Just because I don't wish to meet anyone that Leonard has attempted to 'hook me up' with…it doesn't mean that I don't like girls…I just don't like anyone that way!"

"Okay, settle down snickerdoodle; no need to get your gander up. So, when is Lou moving out?"

"A couple of weeks, they've already started showing people around…" Sheldon gave a shiver at the thought of a perfect stranger moving in such close proximity, he did not cope well with change at all.

"Now, that's interesting…Hear me out, before you say anything else…"

"Alright Mother, I'm listening." Sheldon laced his fingers together under his chin and looked at his Mother on the screen of his laptop.

"Do you remember Iris's daughter, Amy? Oh, how could you remember – you've never met her!" Mary's eyes narrowed a little at the little smirk that appeared on Sheldon's face as he recalled how he had nearly been manipulated into sharing his apartment with Amy a few years ago, thank goodness Leonard had called to save him from that catastrophe. "That had better not be a smirk I see on your face, Sheldon." She warned and Sheldon immediately wiped the threatening smile off his face and resumed a neutral expression. "Anyway, Amy's lease on her apartment is due to expire shortly and she was looking at moving, how would you feel about her taking a look at the apartment across the hall?"

"Well, I suppose that would be alright…she doesn't sound like she would be the type that would cause too much trouble…yes, I think I could accept that proposition." Sheldon thought about it for a moment before nodding his head.

"Good! I'll give her a call right now and get her to arrange a visit. Will you be around tomorrow if she has any questions about the building?"

"Umm…we're paintballing first thing, but we'll be back around twelve. Wait! How will I recognise her?" He suddenly realised that he didn't have a clue what this Amy person looked like, Mary just smiled.

"Don't worry snickerdoodle, Amy's seen enough photos of you to know what you look like. She's been to see Meemaw a couple of times over the years, and you know how Meemaw likes to show off pictures of her Moonpie! Gotta go, Shelly…speak to you soon."

"Bye Mother, give my love to Meemaw." Sheldon gave his Mother a slight wave and signed off. He sat back in his chair and linked his arms behind his head. "Amy Farrah Fowler…it seems that we are destined to meet after all."

"Huh? What did you say Sheldon?" Leonard asked as he walked into the room, towel drying his hair.

"Oh, just a woman that my whole family has been trying to get me to meet for the past twenty years or so…Somehow our paths have never crossed. Apparently we've come close a time or two, in 1996 I was supposed to join Amy and her Mother for Thanksgiving dinner, I received a call from Iris informing me that Amy had taken a trip to Norway instead and so dinner was cancelled. In 2002, I was giving a lecture tour at Harvard at the same time Amy was studying for her PhD…she was supposed to meet me at my lecture, but it finished early and so we never met. The next time was in 2003, I was still looking for a roommate and my Mother suggested that Amy move in here – thank goodness you called when you did, otherwise I would have probably been persuaded to marry her by now."

"Wow…your Mother must really like her, she actually suggested that you live with a woman that you weren't married to…" Leonard shook his head in disbelief, he'd met Mary Cooper a couple of times over the past four years; and he would have never thought that she would have suggested such a thing to her son…unless of course, marriage was her ultimate goal after all.

"Well, now it seems that Amy might possibly be interested in taking the apartment across the hall. She's coming over tomorrow to take a look, after we've been paintballing. She might have some questions for me regarding the building, Mother says that she's a stickler for safety guidelines as much as I am."

"Ooh, she sounds like a real hoot." Leonard muttered sarcastically from beneath the towel and Sheldon merely beamed a smile across at him, completely oblivious to sarcasm as usual.

"Yeah, ain't it great?"

They'd split into two cars after the paintball session; Sheldon and Raj heading to collect their usual takeout of burgers on the way home while Leonard and Howard continued over to the apartment. As they walked up the three flights of stairs to the fourth floor, they could hear the murmur of voices from the landing.

"I see, and how long precisely has the elevator been out of action? Really…that long? Hmm…okay, lack of building maintenance…that's a low score for that one…"

"It sounds like Lou's showing someone around the apartment." Howard remarked as they turned the corner and approached the door to 4B, just as the door across the hallway opened.

"Oh, I think that's the woman Sheldon was talking about last night…"

"Wait, Sheldon was actually talking about a woman? A real, live woman?" Howard stopped by the door and looked over at Leonard who was hanging back on the landing, hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman Mary Cooper had earmarked for her son. He bit back a chuckle at the sight of the slight figure dressed in a beige corduroy skirt, teamed with a blue plaid blouse and topped with a purple and black stripy cardigan.

"Sheldon, you lucky boy." Leonard shook his head as he reached around Howard to unlock the door to the apartment. Howard looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, there was something very familiar about the woman talking quietly with Lou, he just couldn't put his finger on it...Leonard pulled him inside and shut the door, collapsing back against it as he couldn't contain his chuckles any longer.

"What are you laughing about now?" Howard asked as he walked across the living room to flop down in the oversized armchair.

"The woman currently looking over the apartment across the hall is the very woman that Mary Cooper has been trying to fix Sheldon up with for years. He told me that if I hadn't had answered his advertisement that Mary was going to make him have Amy as his roommate!" Howard dashed across the room again and pressed his eye up against the peep hole, his mind wandering back to when he was visiting Harvard with a bunch of guys from MIT….

"Oh my God! That's where I know her from!"

"You mean know as in the biblical sense?" Leonard crossed over to stand near the peephole next to Howard.

"No, I mean I bumped into her at Harvard, she was supposed to meet Sheldon give one of his mind numbing lectures but it finished early so they never got to meet. We got to talking…Jeez! I even told my Ma that I'd met the future Mrs. Wolowitz!"

"You did what?" Leonard stepped back from the door and stared over at his friend, Howard shrugged and looked back through the peephole.

"She's still wearing those corduroy skirts…" Howard sighed a little as he turned away from the door and walked back over to the armchair. "I was young, she was alone…and she looked pretty hot to a desperate guy that hadn't managed to get laid the whole time he was at MIT…" They both looked up as there was a light tap on the front door, Leonard walked over to pull it open.

"Good afternoon, my name is Amy Farrah Fowler. Might I enquire whether Sheldon Cooper is at home?"

"No, I'm afraid not; he's due back shortly with lunch, if you'd care to wait. I know his Mother told him to expect you, they must have been held up collecting the food." Leonard stepped back and waved his arm into the apartment.

"Thank you, but no. Would you please inform Sheldon that unfortunately it appears I will be unable to move in to the apartment across the hall? It appears to have already been leased to someone who was looking this morning. Once again, it appears that fate has other plans in store for us and we are perhaps destined never to meet."

"Ah…sure, I'll let him know. Are you sure you won't come in and wait for him? I know that he'd feel really bad about not being here…you were all he and his Mother talked about last night." Leonard leant against the door frame and was aware that Howard was trying to peer around him to get a closer look at Amy.

"Yes, Aunt Mary can be a little chatty sometimes."

"Aunt Mary? You know Mrs. Cooper that well?" Howard couldn't help but chime in at that moment and Amy peered around Leonard to take one step into the apartment.

"Forgive me, I didn't see you there…Hmm…have we met before somewhere? You look very familiar…" Amy frowned a little as she took in the details of the smaller man standing next to who she assumed was Leonard, Sheldon's roommate.

"Howard Wolowitz at your service." Howard held out his hand and bowed over Amy's hand as she reached out to shake it.

"Ah, yes…Harvard, 2002; you were attending one of Sheldon's lectures on particle physics." Amy recognised Howard from the way that he had bowed over her hand when they had first met.

"So, Aunt Mary?" Howard continued to hold onto Amy's hand, only realising it when she tugged slightly to force him to release his grip.

"Umm…My Mother is the Goddaughter of Sheldon's Meemaw; I've known Aunt Ellie and Aunt Mary for most of my life, however whenever we paid a visit to them in Galveston Sheldon was either away at school, college or had moved up here to work on his doctorate." Amy stepped back into the hallway and discreetly wiped her hand down the side of her skirt. "Well, it was lovely meeting you both, please give my regards to Sheldon when he returns…and tell him I'm sorry that I missed him. Good day, gentlemen." Amy smiled in farewell and made her way back down the staircase. She stood to one side on the second floor landing as two men walked past her carrying take out bags and discussing the latest Fantastic Four movie. They were so deep in their discussion that the taller of the two barely even glanced in her direction, whilst the shy looking Indian man gave her a brief smile of thanks. Amy continued to walk slowly down the remaining two flights of stairs, admiring the brickwork and faux gas lights in the stairwells and thought how nice it would've been to have been able to move into a building such as 2311 Los Robles.

Sheldon and Raj stepped into the apartment and Leonard looked up with a smile. "Hey Sheldon, you just missed Amy! She seems really nice, it's a shame she won't be able to move in across the hall."

"Amy was here? I missed her already? What do you mean she can't move in? I've already prepared a list of fun games that we could have played together! Darn it, now what am I supposed to do?"

"You could go after her, you must have passed her on the stairs; she literally only left a few minutes ago." Howard suggested and Sheldon thought for a moment before giving a shrug.

"I might as well try and make the effort to meet her, at least I will have something to tell Mother." He turned around and moved swiftly down the stairwell, past the third, second and first floor before entering the lobby. He looked around but could see no sign of any one loitering around. He quickly ran down the next set of stairs leading to the basement and scanned the laundry room for her…if he had just taken the time to step outside first, he would have seen Amy admiring the façade of the building with a sigh of regret before walking down the street to where she had left her car. Sheldon sighed as he made his way back up the stairs onto the fourth floor, he glanced over to the closed door of 4A and sighed a little wistfully before stepping inside 4B and closed the door firmly behind him; setting aside all foolish notions of entertaining Amy Farrah Fowler with his intellectual games of wit and wisdom.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone that's left a review, favourited or chosen to follow my little ramblings; I get so excited when I see them popping up in my inbox! Anyway; things are moving on a little now and they are almost ready to meet...**

Three years later and Mary Cooper and Iris Fowler had faced the cold hard truth; their children were never going to meet and provide them with the grandchildren that they had been praying for over the last twenty eight years. But fate had one last trick up it's sleeve, and his name was…Rajesh Koothrappali.

"I can't believe it…" Howard kept muttering over and over as his eyes flickered over the screen of the laptop for the tenth time. "I simply can't believe it. Of all the people in the world, it matched him to her. Should we tell him?"

"Who's going to tell whom about what?" Howard and Raj turned around swiftly, crossing their arms over the screen of the laptop, hiding it from Sheldon's view. "Sheldon! Hi!"

"Your surprise confuses me. I live here." Sheldon remarked as he crossed to the refrigerator to extract a bottle of apple juice. Raj nudged Howard away from the computer and prodded him in the arm to get him to explain what the two of them had been up to.

"Hey, listen what are you doing tomorrow afternoon?" Howard asked as he and Raj walked over to the breakfast bar.

"Be more specific," Sheldon stated as he poured himself a glass of juice and watched as Howard nervously wrung his hands together.

"Four-thirty." Sheldon turned around and explained that four thirty was in actual fact preevening, a time of day that he'd invented to better define the ambiguous period between afternoon and evening.

"Well, tomorrow's Saturday. Saturday night is laundry night. So I'll be spending the preevening pre-sorting and pre-soaking." Raj and Howard exchanged a glance and then Howard stepped forward with an alternative suggestion.

"Okay, what if I were to tell you that tomorrow at four-thirty you could meet a woman who has been scientifically chosen to be your perfect mate?"

"I would snort in derision and throw my arms in the air, exhausted by your constant tomfoolery." Sheldon stated as he stood holding his glass and glancing between the two men.

"But, it's true." Raj insisted and Sheldon did exactly what he said he would do; snorted in derision and waved his arms in the air. He crossed over to his desk and sat down, preparing to ignore everything else that would be spouted out of their inferior minds.

"We put all your vital information into this dating site, answered all the questions just like you would and they found a match for you." Raj explained and Sheldon once again snorted as he attempted to block out their conversation; choosing to pretend that they were mere figments of his imagination.

"You will never believe who they matched you up to…" Howard stated as he crossed over to flip the lid of Sheldon's laptop closed.

"Please." Sheldon snorted again as he brought up his current work onto his laptop, "Even assuming you could answer any question the way I would, the algorithms used by matchmaking sites are complete hokum."

"That's exactly the answer we gave to the question – 'what is your attitude towards online dating?'." Howard excitedly informed him and Raj nodded in agreement.

"Howard wanted to write 'mumbo jumbo', but I said no. Our Sheldon would say 'hokum'." Sheldon frowned at their enthusiasm and turned back to his laptop, Howard tried one more pitch.

"Come on, aren't you even a little bit curious as to who they matched you with? Where's your scientific curiosity?"

"Most of it is being applied to unravelling secrets of the universe; while the rest of it is wondering why I'm having this conversation with you." Sheldon remarked in his usual manner, still looking at the data filling his screen.

"How about this? Even Spock had a date every seven years." Raj suggested and at his remark Sheldon turned around with a look of surprise on his face.

"He didn't date. It was Pon Farr. His blood boiled with mating lust." Sheldon stated slowly as if he were explaining things to a child; really had Raj even been paying attention to their Star Trek marathons at all?

Raj had one more ace up his sleeve and he wasn't afraid to use it. He nudged Howard out of the way and stood in front of Sheldon with his arms folded across his chest and presented him with the dirtiest trick in the book; one that he knew would get Sheldon to agree to practically anything.

"Sheldon…I've hidden the dirty sock from the roof somewhere in your apartment." Sheldon nearly fell off his chair at Raj's quiet statement and looked at the other man with a look of abject horror. "Unless you are willing to come with us to meet this girl; it will remain there…forever."

"You're bluffing." Sheldon stated, please say that you're bluffing; he thought already imaging the germs infesting his meticulously hygienic apartment.

"Are you willing to risk it?" Raj asked, already knowing that Sheldon was near breaking point.

"Curse you." Sheldon muttered as he stalked out of the living room to scrub his body with antibacterial soap and wondering whether he should stock up on disinfectant to douse the whole apartment in.

"Should we tell him who the site matched him with before we go, or leave it as a surprise?" Howard murmured to Raj as they sent an e-mail confirming the time and meeting place.

"Ooh, surprise! Wait! Let's call Sheldon's mother and tell her!"

"Love it! Come on let's go over to your place and call her from there. You got her number?"

"No…quick, get the number out of Sheldon's phone before he comes back in!" Raj waved his hand in the direction of Sheldon's desk and casually strolled down the hallway to lean his head outside the bathroom door. Howard held up his thumb to indicate success as Raj tapped on the glass panelling of the bathroom. "Sheldon, Howard and I will be going now; we will pick you up tomorrow at four o'clock; and for God's sake try to look halfway appealing."

"Go home, Raj." Sheldon called out over the sound of the running shower. Raj sniggered as he and Howard left the apartment and Howard immediately started dialling Mary Cooper as soon as they were out of sight.

"Mrs. Cooper? This is Howard Wolowitz, I'm a friend of Sheldon's, we met last year?"  
>"Sure, I remember you…are you still hanging around that cute little Indian fella? Or have you found yourself a real woman yet?"<p>

"I'm seeing someone yes, a cute little blonde chemist by the name of Bernadette. Listen, there's something you should know and it concerns Sheldon…"

"Is my snickerdoodle alright?"

"'Snickerdoodle'?" Raj chuckled quietly and muffled the sound with his hand as Howard glared over and pointed out the fact that he had Mrs. Cooper on speakerphone.

"No, Mrs. Cooper, Sheldon's fine…It's just that Raj and I entered his details on a dating site and well…it found him a match…One single, perfect match…The odds of that happening are almost out of this world."

"You're not kidding me are you? There's really someone out there that came up with the same wacky responses that you guys entered for Shelly? Huh…who'd have thought it?" Mary sounded so surprised that Sheldon would have matched anyone at all that Howard grinned as he told her the best part.

"It gets even better Mrs. Cooper…I'll give you two guesses who it matched him up with…and no it wasn't me or Raj."

"Well, I can only think of one person that's even remotely like my Shelly but I don't suppose she would have even considered putting herself on one of those dating sites…it is a woman, isn't it?" Mary's voice grew a little concerned at the possibility that her son George might have been right about Sheldon's hidden sexuality after all.

"Yes, Mrs. Cooper, it's definitely a woman. What about if I were to tell you that this dating site is designed for the sole purpose of matching people across the academic streams? It's not like it's a dating site for all and sundry to jump in…mainly teachers, doctors and scientists…Care to take another wild stab in the dark?"

"Good Lord, Howard! If you're saying what I think you're saying, I think Meemaw and I might just need to pay a visit to Pasadena in the near future."

"Well, you'd better think about cashing in those airmiles, Mrs. Cooper. The two doctors have their first date tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh boy, have you told Sheldon who he is meeting?"

"Not yet."

"Good, don't. I don't want to give him the chance to back out. Now you boys update me as soon as you get back tomorrow; in the meantime, I'm gonna give someone's Mama a call to give her the heads up. Gotta go, bye!"

"That went well." Raj stated as Howard flipped his phone closed and the two men continued walking down the stairwell.

"Yeah, all we need to do is make sure Sheldon shows up…the rest is up to him." Howard pushed the lobby door open and they walked down to where Raj had left his car. When Raj dropped him off, he leant through the open window. "Pick me up around three?"

"Isn't that a little early?"

"Not if we want to make sure Sheldon doesn't scare her off by wearing that crazy plaid outfit; the pants are okay and the jacket is okay…but together? Definitely not okay."

"Three it is. See you then." Raj waved as he drove off into the night; leaving Howard to send a quick prayer up to God, hoping that they had done the right thing.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: And we have….Shamy lift off! Be prepared for a little OOC action from them both, bear in mind that nearly everyone has already met Amy from earlier years but there is still the matter of meeting Penny…I'm fully prepared for a little harsh critism for the way I'm going to have Penny behave – got my big girl pants on, I can take it! If you remember this part on the show, Penny had just spend a drunken evening of rolling around the sheets with Leonard and is still feeling a little confused, she's very protective of Sheldon…but that's all it is, I swear – definitely no Shenny action to be found!**

The next afternoon, or preevening as Sheldon had stated; the three men entered the designated meeting point, a coffee shop within walking distance of Los Robles Avenue.

"In a few minutes, when I gloat over the failure of this enterprise, how would you prefer I do it? The standard 'I told you so?' or would a simple 'neenah' suffice?" Sheldon asked as they walked further into the coffee shop.

"You don't know we're wrong yet." Raj insisted as he and Howard started looking around the shop for Sheldon's perfect match. Raj had only seen her from the picture on her profile but Howard had seen her twice before and he nudged Raj when he spotted the familiar figure crossing over the shop.

"That's her coming over now. Play it cool, Sheldon."

"I think we'll go for haughty derision…" Sheldon shot them both his best haughty look and started to speak, only to be interrupted by a voice coming from behind.

"Hello at last, Sheldon. I don't think we've ever formally met... "Sheldon turned around to see a small bespectacled brunette standing right behind him. She was dressed in a black and purple striped cardigan over a blue plaid shirt, and he could just see the neck line of a red undershirt from where the top button of her plaid shirt was undone at her throat.

"Hello…" Sheldon replied quietly as he looked at the small woman standing before him.

"My name is Amy…"

"Amy Farrah Fowler? You're the one that the site matched me with?" Sheldon shook his head in surprise, "I simply cannot fathom why one such as yourself would willingly place themselves on a dating site…This is a surprise, I'm sure your Mother wouldn't approve, Amy."

"Oh, it was my Mother's idea. We had a compromise, I promised to let her put my details up on the site and to attend at least one date per year, in exchange for use of her George Forman grill."

"Interesting." Sheldon nodded, seemingly unaware that Raj and Howard were exchanging looks of amazement behind his back. "My mother and I have the same agreement about church."

"Yes, Aunt Mary has mentioned your aversion a time or two, I don't object to the concept of a deity, but I'm baffled by the notion of one that takes attendance."

"Well, then you might want to avoid a prolonged stay in East Texas." Sheldon informed her, and Amy nodded in agreement.

"Noted, so far I've managed to keep it to a long weekend; it seems that I can't take the risk of extending my stay any further."

"I don't know how we've managed to always miss each other in the past; I find our conversation quite riveting. May I buy you a beverage?" Sheldon continued to stare at Amy, thinking that it was fascinating that someone so in tune with his own mind could have been in his presence her whole life, if only he had made the time sooner.

"Oh, tepid water, please. I try to avoid all forms of caffeine wherever possible."

"Amy Farrah Fowler, I like how you think! I am exactly the same, tell me how do you feel about herbal teas?"

"I like them, I am particularly fond of chamomile in times of stress, lemon zest for when I need a pick me up…" Amy leant in a little closer as if she were sharing a great secret. "Sometimes I even like to have two different flavours mixed together…like blackcurrant and liquorice."

"You decadent hussy!" Sheldon nudged her shoulder and gave her the first genuine smile that he'd given all day. "I happen to have all of those teas in my apartment, instead of tepid water why don't you come up and have a cup of tea with me? We have a lot to catch up on…"  
>"Actually…" Sheldon held his breath and let it out with a sigh of relief when Amy nodded and continued. "That does sound rather nice, I'm always concerned about the level of hygiene in coffee shops such as this; how hot is their water temperature? Is it enough to properly sterilise the mugs and cutlery properly?"<p>

"Oh, it's like talking to another version of myself!" Sheldon smiled again and stepped forward to open the door of the coffee shop to let Amy walk out in front of him. Howard and Raj stood near the window watching the two of them depart.

"Did you see that? He actually held the door open for her and let her go first…"

"Dude, who cares about the door? He offered to buy her a drink, then he smiled at her and now they are on the way back to his apartment where they will be completely alone…"

"Yeah, I need to call Mary back and give her the news." Howard reached for his phone and started dialling, as he and Raj started walking slowly back to the apartment; keeping a close eye on the couple strolling along in front of them. He waited for Mary to pick up and then started talking. "Mrs. Cooper – operation Shamy is a complete success. It went off without a hitch, better than I expect to tell you the truth."

"Don't skimp on the details, Howard…and stop with all the Mrs. Cooper nonsense; we're partners now, so call me Mary, please."

"Okay Mary; first of all he knew who she was as soon as she said her first name. It was as if there were no other women called Amy in the world. They started chatting straight away, he offered to buy her a drink and he even smiled at her; not one of his fake grimaces, but a natural smile; I don't think I've ever seen him look that happy before."

"Oh, I'm gonna start to well up in a minute…" Mary paused, and Howard could hear the rustling of a tissue and a delicate sniff before Mary came back on the line. "Sorry, carry on."

"Well, at the moment Raj and I are following Sheldon back to his apartment, keeping ourselves just out of sight."

"Hold on a minute! I thought you said he wasn't meetin' her until four thirty? It's only just gone that now! He bolted didn't he? Aw, Shelly…"

"Mary, he didn't bolt…we're following at a discreet distance because Sheldon invited Amy to go over for a cup of tea…something about how she didn't trust that the water was hot enough to sanitise the mugs properly in the coffee shop. What do you want us to do? Keep following them into the apartment or just let them be?"

"Oh that's a tough one…I want them to get along, but I wanna know all the details too!"

"What about if we hang over at Penny's for a little while and then make some excuse to go over to Sheldon's in thirty minutes or so? Listen, they're about to head inside so I'll have to call you back later." Howard disconnected the call and he and Raj remained out of sight as Sheldon led Amy into the lobby and then up the stairs. They waited until they couldn't hear their footsteps any longer and then raced up the stairs to knock on Penny's door.

"Hey Howard! Hey Raj! What's up?"

"Can we hide out in here for a little while? We're on a time sensitive mission and we need to report back our findings to HQ, in about half an hour."

"Sure, come on in." Penny stepped back from the door and let the two men into her apartment. "You're lucky, you just caught me coming in."

"Did you happen to see Sheldon going into his apartment?" Howard asked as he kept himself close to Penny's front door. Penny frowned a little as she nodded. "Yeah, but only from the back. It looked as if he had someone with him, I just assumed it was Leonard."

"Oh no, I think we can say it most definitely was not Leonard." Howard flipped his phone open again and hit the redial button. "Mary? We've confirmed that they are both in the apartment now. How long do you want us to leave them alone?" Howard listened for a moment and then made a few noises of agreement, "Okay, call you later, bye."

"Mary? Mary Cooper? What's going on?" Penny crossed her arms over her chest and stared directly at Raj, who flushed and turned his head to look in the other direction. "Spill it, Howard."

"Sheldon has a girl over in the apartment!" Howard finally blurted out and Penny slapped him on the arm, hard.

"Shut up!"

"It's true, her Mother, Sheldon's Mother and Sheldon's Meemaw have been trying to get them to meet for over twenty years now, they just kept missing each other; the last time was by a matter of seconds. Amy had come over to look at this apartment and Sheldon was stuck in traffic when he and Raj stopped to buy burgers. By the time she'd looked at the apartment, you had been in to sign the lease; she got the call when she was still here. She came over to see Sheldon, Leonard and I chatted with her for a while and then she left." Howard paused as Raj whispered something in his ear. He nodded and then continued. "They walked straight passed each other on the stairs but didn't recognise each other…Penny? Penny!" Howard stopped as Penny started sniffing into a tissue.

"It's just sooo romantic! It's like destiny has kept them apart…and now they've finally met!"

"Yeah well, if I had been a little quicker on my feet; she might have been Mrs. Howard Wolowitz by now. I actually met her first, back in 2002."

"Shut up!" Penny repeated again and Howard stepped back before she could slap his arm again.

"Just one of the many occasions that the fickle finger of fate chose to keep them separated; again, they missed each other by a matter of minutes…I got a call from Ma, took my eyes off the prize for one minute and she was gone…I didn't see her again until she turned up looking for an apartment to rent. Apparently that was the reason Sheldon was a little off with you at first; he'd been looking forward to having Amy live across the hall from him, he'd even devised a set of games that he thought she would find intellectually stimulating…yeah, she skipped a couple of grades in school as well; making them even more of a perfect match."

"This is so freakin' like a romance movie that I expect Keanu Reeves to come waltzing out of the bedroom at any second." Penny muttered, torn between staying and listening to more of Howard's story and marching over to press her ear against Sheldon's front door. Raj whispered something to Howard again and the smaller man nodded.

"Raj said, only if his girl Sandy was in it too…"

"Yeah, it's like our very own version of 'The Lake House'. Right, I'm going over there, who's with me?" Penny agreed with Raj's statement and then decided to find out exactly what was happening over in 4B. Raj looked at Howard, who checked the time on his watch.

"It's been fifteen minutes…if he had done something to scare her off, I'm sure we would have heard it by now. I say we listen outside the door for a minute and then casually walk in as if we didn't realise they were there." Howard suggested and the three of them slipped across the hallway to press their ear against Sheldon's front door.

"Mmm, that's definitely Sheldon's voice…and Amy's…Oh God, he's doing it again!" Howard murmured as he listened to the low rumble of voices within.

"Doing what, Howard?"

"Laughing…she actually managed to make Sheldon laugh!"

"That's it! I'm going in!" Penny declared and prepared to open the door…


	8. Chapter 8

Sheldon looked up in surprise from his position on the couch to see Penny strolling casually into the apartment as if she belonged there, closely followed by Raj and Howard. He had been explaining his little game of Counterfactuals to Amy, and she seemed quite impressed with the idea; even suggesting a laminated index card system.

"Good afternoon, Penny. Hello again, Raj, Howard. To what do we owe this pleasure?" Sheldon turned to fully face his unexpected guests, waving a hand over to Penny as he leant to murmur in Amy's ear. "You've already met Raj and Howard, the other one is Penny; she lives across the hall in the apartment that could have been yours."

"Hello, Penny. It's nice to meet you." Amy nodded over at the beautiful young blonde, suddenly feeling very dowdy in comparison.

"Likewise." Penny replied a little shortly, as she made herself comfortable in the armchair by curling her legs up underneath her. "So, Moonpie, how's it going?" Amy looked surprised at the familiar way that Penny addressed Sheldon, and was surprised he allowed it. Sure enough, Sheldon rose from the couch; collecting their empty mugs along the way and gave Penny a stern look from narrowed eyes.

"Penny, Penny, Penny – how many more times do I have to tell you that only my Meemaw is allowed to call me that?"

"Sorry, but it's just so cute. Can I call ya Shelly instead?"

"No." Sheldon replied as he rinsed out the mugs and filled them with more hot water. He selected the tea bags from a pot on the counter and dipped them into the mugs, before walking back over to the couch. He handed Amy a mug without even checking that she even wanted another cup and she murmured her approval when she saw the two strings hanging over the side. Sheldon gave her a slight half smile as he settled back into his seat, and Amy shifted slightly closer as Howard plunked himself down next to her.

"Thanks Sheldon, but I'm okay at the moment." Penny muttered from the chair and Sheldon looked up, blinking in surprise.

"I just assumed that you would help yourself to whatever you wanted as per your normal habit. Don't think that I didn't notice the half empty bottle of milk that was nearly full yesterday morning, I know it wasn't Leonard as he is lactose intolerant as you well know." Sheldon turned back to Amy. "How is your tea?"

"Lovely, thank you." Amy smiled faintly as she took another small sip and tasted the tang of the liquorice mixed with the fruity blackberry.

"I still think that you are a decadent hussy…two teabags…" Sheldon shook his head and sipped at his own mug. "Hmm, lemon zest, I approve of your taste Amy Farrah Fowler; it really does add a little pizazz." Penny looked over to the front door as it opened to reveal Leonard arriving home.

"Hey everyone…" He looked around the room and smiled widely when he saw who was sitting next to Sheldon. "Hi Amy! I see you guys finally managed to meet! Nice to see you again."

"The same here, Leonard. Yes, we did finally meet up…it's only taken twenty eight years, but we got there in the end." Amy smiled at the fact that Leonard seemed truly happy to meet her again; it wasn't something she'd often experienced, and it was a heady feeling. She looked down at her watch and noticed that it was rapidly approaching half past five. She placed her mug down onto the coaster on the coffee table and prepared to rise to her feet. Sheldon placed a hand on her arm to stop her.

"You're not leaving already? You've only just got here!"

"I don't want to interrupt your plans for this evening, it's nearly half past five and I'm sure you will be wanting to think about dinner before making a start on your laundry." Amy hovered over the couch, half way between sitting and standing.

"Laundry?" Sheldon parroted back, his throat suddenly closing up in near panic at the thought of losing the connection they had formed.

"It's Saturday, Sheldon. It's a well-known fact in your family that even Aunt Mary is forbidden to contact you between the hours of seven and nine o'clock due to your laundry duties. I think Aunt Ellie has managed to slip in under the net a few times, but then who wouldn't want to make time for her? You know, she seems to know whenever I sit down to watch anything with Colin Firth in it…and even Colin's many charms can't keep me from talking to your Meemaw." Amy looked down at Sheldon's hand still pressed against her arm and his face flushed a little and he bit his lip.

"Stay for dinner." Leonard blurted out, not wanting to tear the two apart just when things were starting to get interesting.

"Please do…" Sheldon added in a soft voice, and Amy found herself sitting back down on the couch agreeing to stay a little longer.

"Howard, won't Bernadette and your Ma be expecting you home soon?" Leonard looked over at where Howard was staring at Sheldon and Amy as if he expected them to disappear at any moment.

"Yeah, I guess…" Howard muttered as he looked at his watch. "Come on, Raj…Don't give me that look, you picked me up so you have to take me home as well!" Raj murmured something under his breath and waved at the group as he made his way to the door.

"Ladies…a pleasure as always." Howard bowed slightly as he walked over to follow Raj. "Guys, see you tomorrow for paintball?"

"Oh, no Howard. I'm afraid I won't be able to join you tomorrow as planned, Amy and I have plans to visit the zoo tomorrow. Perhaps Penny would care to take my place instead?" Sheldon looked over at Penny with a raised eyebrow, she shrugged.

"I'm not working tomorrow, I don't have a date…so yeah, count me in." She remained sprawled in the chair, avoiding Leonard's gaze and keeping her eyes averted from where Sheldon was practically fawning over his new found friend.

"Cool, see you then." Howard smiled again and hurried out of the door before Raj decided to leave without him.

"I guess it's just us for dinner then, Chinese okay?" Leonard looked around the room, Amy and Sheldon nodded while Penny gave another shrug. "Uh, Penny could you come help me find the menu please?" Leonard jerked his head toward the kitchen and Penny sighed as she unfolded her legs to get out of the chair.

"What is your problem? I know you may feel a little awkward still with me after last night, but you could at least try to be a little more welcoming towards Amy; if you can't do that then you might as well go home."

"Leonard…" Penny tried to turn away, but Leonard held onto her arm, forcing her to face him.

"No, I mean it. I can take all the awkwardness you can dish out, but Amy's a nice girl and she doesn't deserve the cold shoulder."

"Damn it! I'm such a mess, I came over here all excited for Sheldon…and then it suddenly to deflate my mood. It was a little weird seeing him act so 'nice' to someone he's never even met before, and it just freaked me out a little. Aargh…!" Penny rubbed her forehead with her fingers and looked over at Leonard. "I think I'm just gonna go home; I've got a killer headache from all that wine last night…and it's screwing up my thinking; I don't want him to get hurt, Leonard…" Penny murmured, feeling miserable that she'd managed to upset Leonard and probably Sheldon and his new friend as well.

"I know Penny, but I really think that they could be good for one another." Leonard rubbed her arm and patted her shoulder gently. "We're good though aren't we?"

"Yeah, we're good…sorry for leading you on like that, I really didn't mean to…" Penny held up her hand to stop Leonard's protests. "I had too much to drink and took advantage of you, it won't happen again. Thanks for being so understanding, Leonard, but I just need a little time to get my head straight…but I hope we can get back to where we were before I went all junior rodeo on your ass."

"Sure, Penny…do you want anything for dinner? I can bring it across to you…"

"No, I think I'm just gonna go and crash on my couch for a little while." Penny reached up to press a soft kiss against Leonard's cheek before turning to walk back into the living room. "Sheldon, Amy…I'm going to head home – I'm still feeling a little hung over from last night and it's making me a little moody. Amy, it was lovely to meet you and I hope to see you again very soon. Leonard, bang on my door really hard in the morning so that I can be ready for paintball. Night Sheldon." Penny did her best to give a natural smile to everyone before she slipped out of the apartment and crossed the hall into her own. She slumped against the door and sighed heavily. "God, I am such a cow! I don't know what Leonard ever saw in me." She dragged herself over to the couch and propped her feet up on the coffee table…and was soon snoring away her hangover.


	9. Chapter 9

Leonard watched Penny leave with a wistful expression on his face, he told himself it was never meant to be and walked across to the armchair brandishing the take out menu in his hand.

"Just us then, Amy what do you fancy from the Chinese menu?" He asked with forced cheerfulness and looked over to Amy.

"Umm…do they have Tangerine Chicken?" She asked Leonard and Sheldon bounced a little in his seat.

"Oh yummy! That's my favourite, too. It's amazing how much we have in common, isn't it?"

"Yeah amazing…" Leonard smiled ruefully as he phoned the order through. "It's gonna be around twenty minutes. I'm gonna head to the grocery store before I collect it. Do we need anything?"

"Milk please, your former girlfriend has gone back to her ways of sneaking over here to steal my supplies, and more herbal tea bags as well, Amy – do you have any other preference apart from blackberry and liquorice?" Sheldon turned in his seat to address Amy directly, and Leonard hid a smile as it showed him that Sheldon was obviously planning on having Amy over at the apartment a lot if he was asking for her choice in teabags.

"I quite like ginger tea as well, but I'm quite happy with anything that you have; please don't get anything special on my account."

"Nonsense, you're practically part of the family; whatever would Meemaw say if I ignored your particular requirements?" Sheldon turned to Leonard, "White ginger tea please, and see if they have one of those selection boxes of mixed teas; I might want to adopt Amy's policy of mixing it up a little. Do you need any cash before you go?" Leonard checked his wallet and shook his head.

"Nah, I've got plenty, we'll sort it out when I get back. See you in a few." Before he'd left the apartment, Sheldon and Amy were once again deep in discussion about Counterfactuals and they barely even registered his absence. In fact, they both looked up in surprise when the door opened half an hour later and he stepped back inside carrying a fully laden grocery back on one hand and balancing the tray of Chinese with the other.

"Leonard, you're back…I must say I didn't even notice the time passing." Sheldon walked into the kitchen to fetch plates and napkins. He held up a bottle of water in Amy's direction and she nodded; he tucked another two under his arm and carried everything over to the coffee table.

"Two Tangerine chickens, a portion of rice to share out, dumplings and vegetable noodles for me." Leonard placed the containers onto their plates and started dividing up the food. "How many dumplings do you want, Amy?"  
>"One please, Leonard and just a little rice." Leonard placed the dumpling on her plate and started spooning the rice out. He dished the rest out between himself and Sheldon and they sat back to eat; Leonard taking the armchair and leaving the couch for Sheldon and Amy.<p>

"Mmm…this is far better than the Tangerine Chicken from Glendale." Amy sighed in happiness as the almost bittersweet Tangerine hit her taste buds. "Oh God! These dumplings are amazing!" She forked the other half into her mouth and wished that she had requested more than one. Leonard was just about to offer one of his extra dumplings when Sheldon nudged her with his elbow.

"Would you like one of my extra ones, Amy?"

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not, otherwise I wouldn't have offered." Sheldon forked one of his dumplings onto her plate and Amy immediately started digging in. She finished it up and eyed the remaining two on the edge of Sheldon's plate. He glanced over and grinned, holding the plate closer to his chest.

"Don't look at me with those puppy dog eyes, little lady. You asked for one dumpling, you ate two; the rest are mine!" Amy grinned in response and turned back to her own meal without saying another word; Leonard was still looking over in shocked surprise – had he really just seen Sheldon willingly offering up food from his own plate?

"Leonard? Leonard?" The sound of his name being repeated snapped Leonard out of his daze and he shook his head a little to clear the fog before turning to face Sheldon.

"Huh?"

"Amy has been trying to attract your attention for the last few moments, and you have just been staring vacantly into space! Amy, I apologise for my roommate's behaviour; I just don't know what has gotten into him today."

"I'm sorry Amy, now what were you going to ask me?" Leonard shook his head again and shifted in his chair to look directly at Amy. She was reaching down onto the floor to collect her purse, where it was lying at her feet.

"You're not going so soon after eating are you?" Sheldon reached over to lightly touch her arm again, and Amy looked over with a slight smile.

"No Sheldon, I was merely enquiring what my share of the meal would be." Amy extracted her wallet and looked over at Leonard, waiting for his response; in the meantime Sheldon was stretching over to pluck the wallet out of her fingers and placing it back in her bag.

"I won't hear of it; you are my guest this evening, and as such it would be ungentlemanly conduct to expect you to purchase your own meal. I will settle up with Leonard later; now please remain seated until your digestive system has settled down, the optimum time for movement after a meal is between thirty and forty five minutes."

"I believe that's only for when you wish to go swimming, Sheldon." Amy corrected him with a wry grin, but sat back on the couch regardless. Sheldon gave a little 'pshaw' sound with his mouth and waved her correction away.

"Shall we watch a little light entertainment while we wait?" He suggested, flicking through the channels on the tv. "Hmm…nothing much to choose from; Amy what is your preference?"

"I don't really watch much television; I am partial to the National Geographic channel and their documentaries, but I don't subscribe to the notion of light entertainment as I usually find it an oxymoron at best…"

"Oh, I couldn't agree more! Those ghastly reality shows that have taken over the networks…urgghhh! How do you feel about science fiction?" Sheldon paused, his fingers hovering over the buttons on the remote as he waited for her response. Leonard was also waiting with bated breath, whatever Amy said next could either make or break the new friendship…


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Well my muse is behaving very badly and has steered this little drabble off course, I had intended to have Amy spend a few hours getting to know Sheldon and Leonard followed by a lovely day at the zoo…but no, my muse insists that Amy should know exactly what she is getting herself in for from the start…so it looks like there may be one or two more chapters than I had originally anticipated…wait; she's now saying that Mary and Meemaw should pay a visit as well...I don't know whether our little lovebirds are quite ready for that, so I will attempt to tame her into submission! **

"Well…" Amy said slowly as she shifted slightly on the couch, drawing her knees up slightly so that her legs rested lightly on the cushions, but her shoes were clear of the fabric. "I can't say that I have ever watched enough to be able to formulate a definitive opinion either way. Do you have a favourite that we could sit and watch? It might help me make up my mind."

"Do I have a favourite?" Sheldon mused as he tapped the control against his lean thigh… "I like Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars…four through six for obvious reasons…"

"Sorry? I don't quite understand?" Amy held up her hand. "If you say that you love a franchise, how can you state that you only like the last three movies?"

"Sheldon, if I may?" Leonard leant forward in his chair and attempted to explain the group's ambivalent feelings toward the first three episodes of the saga.

"Proceed…" Sheldon nodded and Leonard walked over to grab the Blu-Ray set of the complete series from beneath the television stand.

"Okay, when George Lucas originally wrote the series he intended for them to be released sequentially; you know starting with Episode I where Anakin Skywalker is still a child and going right through to Episode VI where Luke Skywalker finally defeats the Galactic Empire…"

"Spoilers, Leonard!" Sheldon cried out and snatched the casing from Leonard's grasp. "What my friend is trying explain without giving away too much of the plot line, is the fact that they originally released Episodes IV through VI first – which featured a truly spectacular feast of special effects, and then many years later released Episodes I through III; something that they should have left well alone!"

"Come on, Sheldon! II and III weren't that bad…it was just Episode I that was terrible; horrendous actually." Leonard interrupted again and Sheldon gave him a nod of approval.

"You are quite right, Leonard…but the only way for Amy to realise the true magnitude of the experience; she will of course, have to watch them all in sequence."

"Yeah, but what sequence; order of release or by timeline?" Leonard frowned as he flipped the case over in his hands, and then went back to his chair to flip open his phone. "Howard? Leonard here, now if you were going to introduce Star Wars to someone for the first time; how would you do it? Timeline or release date? Uh-huh, I see…Oh, Raj is with you still? Sure, ask him as well…Okay, yeah…sure, we can do that…uh-huh…Yeah, see you tomorrow." Leonard hung up the phone and turned to Sheldon with a grin and raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"The general consensus is that a Star Wars virgin might be able to follow the storyline better if shown in the correct intended time line…"

"Agreed, that doesn't explain that silly little look on your face though."

"Well…Bernadette's gone over to spend the night at her Mother's as her Dad's on a fishing trip. Raj was staying over at Howard's tonight so that they can be here early for paintball…" Leonard let his voice trail off and soon Sheldon was bouncing up and down on his seat in eager anticipation.  
>"Ooh, Amy you are in for such a treat! Star Wars marathon!"<p>

"Come again?" Amy swivelled on her seat to look at Sheldon, a bright eyed look of wonder on his face.

"A whole evening of Star Wars…oh, the joy! Come on, we need to get ready!" Sheldon jumped up from the couch and held out his hand to pull Amy to her feet.

"What? Where are we going?" Amy spluttered as Sheldon dragged her across the hallway and into his bedroom.

"Sit there a moment…No, not that one…Hmm…no…" Sheldon pushed Amy lightly on the end of his bed and crossed over to his wardrobe to rifle through his t-shirt collection. He pulled out a slightly faded shirt in grey depicting Yoda on the front and grabbed a pair of fleecy grey sweatpants from the drawer. He crossed over and pressed the bundle into Amy's arms and then turned back to his wardrobe to select a suitable shirt for himself.

"Come on, hurry up and get changed! The guys will be here soon! I'll go and change in the bathroom and you can have the bedroom to yourself for a few moments…don't take too long though!" Sheldon ran out of the room, leaving Amy to look at the bundle of clothes in her arms, shaking her head in amusement.

"You meet someone in a coffee shop and then three hours later you're wearing his clothes…My Mother wouldn't believe it if she saw it, Amy what have you gotten yourself into?" Needless to say, she carefully removed her own clothing; folding them neatly in a pile and then slipped into Sheldon's clothes, sniffing lightly as the light scent of talc rose up to mix pleasantly with the fragrance of fabric softener. "Mmm…lovely." She murmured as she rubbed her chin against the soft fabric. There was a series of light knocks on the door and Sheldon called out her name.

"Amy…Amy…Amy…are you decent? I forgot my pants…"

"Sure, come in Sheldon." Sheldon opened the door a crack and peered through the opening. He opened the door fully when he saw Amy sitting on the edge of his bed. He edged over to the dresser and selected a soft pair of sweats at random. "Could you grab the pillows and comforter and take them out to the living room, please? I'll be out in a moment."

"Sheldon, I'm having second thoughts about this marathon of yours. It's getting late, you will miss laundry and it feels a little weird sitting in what is in effect, pyjama's watching a movie series with a bunch of strangers…Oh, I need to sit down." Amy started to hyperventilate and Sheldon immediately dropped the pants onto the dresser and sat down beside her.

"Amy! I'm so sorry, I guess I just got a little ahead of myself…I can't believe that we only just met today; sitting next to you on the couch, eating dinner – well, it just seemed as if you had always been there…" Sheldon didn't quite know how to describe what it was that he was feeling, and felt that his words were somehow inadequate. Amy got her breathing under control and looked over at Sheldon knotting his fingers together in his lap and chewing on his bottom lip. She carefully reached over to still his fingers, leaving her hand resting on top of his for a moment before slowly drawing away.

"Sheldon…I feel the same, and it's a little scary…how about I stay for the first movie and we'll take it from there?"

"Really? You'll stay?" Sheldon's face lifted and he looked over with a grin. "That's great! Now, how about you take that stuff outside and I'll get outta these pants…" He shooed her out of his bedroom with an armful of supplies and Amy walked into the living room to see that Leonard had rearranged the furniture; pushing the coffee table out of the way and moving the armchair nearer the couch.

"Hey Amy…nice shirt." Leonard looked up to see her standing on the landing and stepped over to take the pillows and comforter from her. "Take a seat and get comfortable, the guys will be over soon… and we can get started." Amy hovered near the armchair, but found her arm gently grasped by a lean set of fingers as Sheldon steered her over to the couch instead.

"No Amy, you need to sit next to me – so that I can explain anything that you don't understand. Leonard will take the seat next to you. Howard can have the chair and Raj usually brings a sleeping bag so he can have the floor." Sheldon sat in his usual spot and pulled Amy down next to him. "Leonard, is everything set up as per our normal viewing arrangements?"

"Snacks and beverages are set up on the counter; the first disc is lined up and ready to play; we're just waiting on Raj and Howard." Leonard ticked each item off his fingers as he ran through his mental checklist; he was wearing the appropriate clothing, choosing a Han Solo shirt in dark blue, teamed with a pair of baggy blue sweatpants. He'd kicked off his shoes and pulled on a pair of thick white, sports socks. He looked down and saw that Amy's bare feet were still tucked in her sensible orthopaedic shoes.

"Sheldon, you didn't offer Amy any socks? How can she watch Star Wars in shoes?" Leonard shook his head as his roommate's lack of vision and turned around to head across the hallway.

"Leonard, sit down please. I'll fetch a pair of my socks for Amy to wear…Lord knows what kind of bacteria infests your footwear; you forget I've seen what temperature you select for your washing." Sheldon rose from the couch and pointed for Leonard to take his seat. He jogged down the hallway and returned with the sock just as Howard and Raj entered the apartment, loaded down with grocery sacks.

"Picked up a few essentials on the way over…red vines for Sheldon, skittles for Leonard. Amy, I didn't know what you liked so we picked up Milk Duds, Junior Mints and Butterfingers." Howard set the bags down on the counter and turned around to see Sheldon handing over a pair of socks to Amy. He blinked hard, certain he was seeing things – was Amy wearing Sheldon's favourite shirt? It wasn't an optical illusion; Amy was actually wearing Sheldon's treasured shirt, and from the looks of things his pants and socks too… Raj leant over to murmur something in Howard's ear, which caused him to smirk a little over at the pair sitting on the couch.

"What's got you all in a dither?" Leonard looked over to see the two men chuckling as they added their bounty to the snack bar.

"You mean to tell me you haven't noticed?" Howard murmured as he jerked his head over to where Sheldon was offering half of his Star Wars comforter to Amy, tucking it carefully around her legs.

"Noticed what?" Leonard frowned over his glasses, as he walked over to grab a packet of Skittles and a bottle of water from the pile.

"They're wearing matching shirts. Sheldon's wearing his crisp new Yoda shirt; the one he said was never coming out of the packet, just so that he could let Amy wear the one he's already pre-softened…they match right down to their socks."

"Oh, yeah…I didn't put it together until now, kinda cute isn't it?" Leonard grinned as he saw the way Sheldon was treating Amy as if she were something infinitely precious already. "Amy, what snack do you want for the first movie?"

"Nothing at the moment, thank you Leonard. That second dumpling from Sheldon really filled me up. I wouldn't mind a cup of tea though."

"Let me get that for you, ginger and lemon?" Sheldon threw back the comforter and lept from the couch, acting like a puppy eager to please its new master.

"Mmm…lovely." Amy nestled further into the warmth of the comforter, pulling it up a little to cover her arms. Leonard noticed her little shiver and nudged Sheldon.

"Sheldon, I think Amy's feeling a little chilled…you've given her a short sleeved shirt and she came in wearing at least three layers. Do you want me to get her one of my sweaters to put on?"

"Hmm…what if we turned the thermostat up a couple of degrees and see if that works? It would be a shame to hide away that lovely t-shirt…" Sheldon placed the kettle down on a heat proof mat before jogging over to kick the temperature up a notch. Howard stood gaping, first Amy had said that Sheldon had given her a dumpling off his plate and now he was willingly turning up the temperature? They had to be in some sort of Twilight Zone, this sort of thing just didn't happen in 4A! Raj leant over to murmur in Howard's ear and Howard nodded.

"I know, it's kinda freaky isn't it?"

"What's freaky?" Sheldon asked as he poured two mugs of tea and draped the two strings over the lip of the mugs.

"Oh, nothing…having a girl over for a Star Wars marathon." Howard blurted out the first thing that came to his mind and Sheldon paused in carrying over the mugs to the table nearest his end of the couch.

"Not really, we used to have Penny over all of the time; until she kept talking through all the important parts. Why? Did you want to invite her over as well?"

"I think she's pretty tired Sheldon, and you did ban her from watching Star Wars over here ever again." Leonard settled himself on the other end of the couch and squished down a little until he was comfortable. Amy offered the end of the comforter, and Leonard was quick to refuse when he saw the scowl appearing on Sheldon's face.

"And Star Trek." Howard murmured from the armchair, and when Raj whispered in his ear also added; "Raj said, and The Avengers…"

"Alrighty then!" Sheldon rubbed his hands together in glee and reached over to switch off the table lamp, plunging the room into darkness; relieved only by the glow emanating from the television. "I present to you; Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace…" He pressed play on the remote and passed Amy her mug of tea as the small group settled in to watch the action unfold…


	11. Chapter 11

"So, what did you think?" Sheldon turned to face Amy and everyone waited as she tried to think of a response that wouldn't offend.

"Well, it was an interesting concept…but that Jar Jar character! How could you stand to watch him over and over again?"

"Exactly! Now can you see why we hate that Episode so much?" Sheldon reached over to squeeze Amy's hand gently. "Gentlemen, I think we have a keeper in this one." Howard announced from the chair, which earned him a scowl from Sheldon; and he shrank further into the depths of the armchair hoping that he hadn't earned himself another strike as well. Amy shifted on the couch, and leant over to murmur something in Sheldon's ear. He nodded and paused the player before the next movie could start up.

"Gentlemen, I propose that we take a fifteen minute recess before we start on Episode II."

"Excellent! My bladder's been crying for the past twenty minutes!"

"Howard! There are ladies present, and I don't know how you were raised; but in our house Mama taught me that it was always ladies first." Sheldon rose from the couch and stopped Howard from moving from the chair.

"Oh, yeah…sorry, Amy. Go ahead." Amy cheeks flushed a little as she scurried down the hallway to relieve her screaming bladder. She finished her business and after scrubbing her hands thoroughly and spritzing them with a little antibacterial cleanser, emerged from the bathroom and announced it was all clear. Howard rushed past her, nearly knocking her straight into Sheldon, he steadied her and caught a whiff of something pleasing to his nostrils.

"Mmm…someone found the Purell." He murmured as he led her back over to the couch and held up her mug in invitation.

"No, thank you; I believe that I have had sufficient for one night. Yes, I discovered the Purell in the bathroom; do you mind?"

"Oh not at all, quite frankly it's refreshing to see someone else has the same exacting hygiene regime as myself." Sheldon placed the empty mugs in the sink and then got himself comfortable back in his spot. "Are you warm enough, Amy? Shall I fetch you a robe?"

"Sheldon, I'm fine…if I need something, I will ask. Just relax and enjoy your movies." Amy patted his arm gently and shifted a little on the couch as she curled her legs up to one side. "Is this okay?" She asked suddenly, knowing that Sheldon would probably never allow someone to put their feet on the couch. He merely nodded, and shifted further over so that he was propped up against the arm. They waited until everyone was back in their seats and started the second movie.

Somewhere around two o'clock in the morning and halfway through Episode IV they started nodding off, Sheldon felt a slight pressure against his arm and found Amy's head slipping onto his shoulder. He didn't say a word, just lifted his arm slightly and allowed her head to fall naturally against his side; her legs were completely on the couch by that time, and Sheldon made sure that she was adequately covered up before turning his attention back to the movie. By three o'clock, Leonard had succumbed and was sprawled halfway across the arm of the couch with his arm flung across Amy's back. Sheldon twitched a little at the sight, before moving Amy carefully over so that her head was propped on a pillow on his end of the couch and her head stayed snuggled in the crook of his neck – in essence he had dragged her onto his lap to make sure that Leonard wasn't touching a single part of her body. By half past three, Sheldon had also fought and lost the battle against sleep and his head slipped lower and lower to the side, until it was resting against the soft silkiness of Amy's head…

"Holy crap on a cracker!" Penny sat bolt upright on her couch and winced as the bright sunlight streamed through her open curtains. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and yelped as she saw the time. "Eight fifteen! Why didn't anyone wake me? Coffee or shower, I need both but which first? Leonard will have a pot on, I'll run over there and grab a cup first…" Penny ran into the bathroom to splash a handful of cold water on her face and patted it dry, peering at her puffy eyes in the mirror. "Seriously girl, you need to get a grip! Stop with the all night pity parties or you will end up looking like Aunt Martha before your time." She brushed her teeth quickly and flung on a robe before creeping across the hall to open the door to Sheldon's apartment.

"Holy crap on a cracker!" She yelled out again as she walked straight into the coffee table which Leonard had moved over to make room for the marathon. Her yell had Howard moaning in his sleep and calling out in a hoarse voice.

"Not so loud, Ma…trying to get a little sleep here." He shuffled in the chair and rolled over, only to hit the floor with a thump. "What the frack?" He blinked as he realised that he wasn't in bed at his Mother's house, but sitting on the floor in Sheldon's apartment where he had fallen asleep in the middle of Episode IV. He looked over to see Raj curled up in a small ball by the coffee table and Leonard sprawled across half of the couch. What had him gulping in amazement was the sight of Sheldon snuggling up with Amy; both curled up in his spot on the couch.

"This has to be some weird ass dream that I'm having…the combination of Junior Mints and Red Vines..." He muttered as he rubbed his eyes, as if doing so would transform the image before him.

"Well, it looks as though you guys had quite the sleepover…" Penny muttered as she accidentally on purpose, kicked Raj as she picked her way through the debris littering the floor of the apartment. "What happened to paintball? I thought we were supposed to be at the course by nine?"

"Aargghhh…paintball! I don't think that's gonna happen today, Penny. I know I fell asleep around three…Sheldon and Leonard were still awake but from the looks of things they couldn't have made it a lot further in…You know we can't leave a movie half finished; it wouldn't be fair…we'd have to start all over again." Howard nudged Raj awake and ignored the groans and mumbles coming from the grouchy Indian.

"What were you watching anyway?" Penny asked in an offhand manner, as she crossed over to the kitchen to switch on the coffee maker. She was trying her best not to feel left out, but it still hurt a little to know that the whole gang was over and she hadn't been invited.

"Star Wars…you know you were banned from watching it over here; so don't try and make me feel bad for not coming over to get you."

"How many episodes?"

"All of them…well I fell asleep midway through IV…so the first three anyway."

"Oh, the poor, poor girl. What did you do to her? Was she tied up, did you slip something in her drink?" Penny forgot all thoughts about not being invited, for her being forced to watch the saga was a fate worse than death and she immediately felt a pang of sympathy for Sheldon's new friend.

"Nothing! She seemed like she was quite enjoying herself; especially when Sheldon turned out to be quite the snuggle bunny." Howard lowered his voice and took a step closer. "I don't know whether you noticed or not, but they happen to be wearing matching outfits; pants, shirt, socks – everything. He even unwrapped one of his mint condition shirts just so that they could match…And there's more…Sheldon gave her one of his dumplings – straight off his plate!"

"Holy crap! That's just…amazeballs…I don't know what to say…" Penny looked over at where Sheldon was still curled up around Amy on the couch, offering his body as shelter and holding her securely in his arms. "Our little Shelly is all grown up, Howard."

"Yeah, I know…That reminds me, I need to call his mother." Howard flipped open his phone and snapped a quick picture of the couple and sent it off to Mary as an attachment. He dialled her number and waited for her to pick up. "Mary? Yeah, it's Howard – did you check your inbox? Open it up and call me back." A few moments later Howard's phone vibrated, he picked it up and Penny could hear the excited squawks of Mary Cooper coming through the speaker. "No, they weren't alone…yeah, that was taken just a few minutes ago…no, we were having a movie marathon and everyone just fell asleep where they were sitting…it looks like Leonard may have gotten a little handsy during the night and Sheldon must have switched places with her…yeah…okay…bye." He flipped the phone closed and turned to Penny. "That is one excited Mama, she's hearing wedding bells and they haven't even been out on a proper date yet."

"Howie, I think we've skipped dating protocols…I mean they knew each other for what, three hours…and he's already got her out of her clothes and into his!" Penny bit back an excited scream of excitement and poured herself a cup of the rich, fragrant brew. She walked over to where Leonard was softly snoring, and wafted the cup under his nose. He twitched a little as the scent rose up his nostrils, and then slowly opened his eyes.

"Hey, sleepyhead…rise and shine; it's paintball time!"

"Noooo…need more sleep…" Leonard turned on the couch and found himself nosing up against Sheldon's shoulder. He felt a sneeze coming on from the waft of the talc emanating from Sheldon's clothes and twitched his nose in an effort to hold it back. He jumped up from the couch, forgetting that his legs were tangled in the comforter that all three of them had shared during the night; he fell onto the floor and the noise combined with the sudden loss of heat woke Sheldon with a start.

"Danger! Danger!" He sat up and looked around the room, his sudden movement waking Amy as well. She looked at their cosy positioning and her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Oh my…" She muttered as she tried to extract herself from Sheldon's embrace with injuring them both. Sheldon placed a hand on either side of her waist and lifted her effortlessly over his lap until she was seated against the arm of the couch, occupying his usual position. "I must have fallen asleep and clambered over you like a crazy person, I'm so sorry Sheldon."  
>"It wasn't you at all, Amy. Leonard was attempting to cuddle up to you in his sleep and so I merely swapped positions with you on the couch; we must have both moved involuntarily in our sleep, seeking out warmth as the night grew cooler." Sheldon explained, keeping his face averted so that she couldn't see the betraying twitch beneath his eye which always revealed when he was attempting a falsehood.<p>

"Oh, well I had better get changed and head home; I think we had better put off our plans for the zoo today, Sheldon. You will no doubt want to complete your laundry and I believe your friends have arranged to go paintballing this morning. Perhaps I will call you later in the week and we could arrange something for next weekend instead?" There were an assortment of groans throughout the room as Amy mentioned paintballing and Sheldon had a look of distress on his face.

"You really mean to leave in the middle of a Star Wars marathon? We still have three more to go…you can't leave just as the best one's are about to start!"

"He's right, Amy. No one should leave before seeing Episodes IV through VI at least once, we can do paintballing any old time. Stay, watch the rest with us, come on – it will be fun!" Leonard looked up from where he was still entangled on the floor and asked her what he knew Sheldon was trying to say. "I'll even throw your clothes in the wash so that you can wear them home tonight, what do you say?"

"Would it be okay if I took a quick shower first?" Amy asked quietly, she hated feeling grubby and had missed her evening shower last night and again this morning.

"If the boys mind, you can always come over to mine and take a shower? I'm sure I can find you something to wear until your clothes are dry." Penny offered as she sipped her cup of coffee.

"Thank you, Penny, but that won't be necessary. I know you have yet to purchase the adhesive ducks that I recommended after your spill in the shower; and so Amy of course, must take her shower here. Also, clothes…as you know, each Star Wars marathon must be accompanied by the appropriate attire, hence the t-shirts. Raj, Howard – I assume you brought a spare change with you? Then perhaps you would like to take Penny up on her offer to shower and change over at her apartment? I suggest that we meet back here in forty five minutes; that gives us each fifteen minutes to shower and change before we restart Episode IV…I will find suitable garments for Amy to change into…Amy, if you would care to follow me?" Sheldon rose from the couch and waited for Amy on the landing. His take charge attitude toward Amy was freaking them all out a little, but it seemed to be working as she followed him into his bedroom as meek as a lamb.

"What am I supposed to do all day while you're all getting your geek on?" Penny spluttered from the couch.

"Well if you could promise to keep quiet and remain out of sight, I don't think Sheldon would mind if you stayed to watch with us." Leonard suggested with a smirk, and Penny narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

"Why don't you give Bernie a call and see if she wants to hang out at the Galleria with you? She's probably about ready to strangle her Mother right about now, so I would strike while the iron's hot." Howard piped up from the armchair and Penny nodded.

"First sensible idea you've had all year, Howard. You guys coming over to shower at my place? Clock's ticking boys, tick-tock." Howard and Raj grabbed their bags and followed Penny across the hall. She grabbed a few towels from the cupboard and shoved them in their arms. "Go for it…don't mind the mess, I'll clear it up later. Anyone want some breakfast? Just to let you know, that I'd have to run back over to Sheldon's if you do, 'cause like Mother Hubbard, my cupboards are bare."

"No, we're okay thanks." Howard replied for both of them and shoved Raj through the bedroom and into the bathroom. "You go first, and then you won't have to sit and stare into space waiting for me to finish. As soon as you're done, you can head back over to Sheldon's."

"Thanks, Howard – you are truly a good friend."

"Yadda, yadda, yadda – get on with it then!" Howard passed a towel through the door and then stepped back out into the living room. "So, did you call Bernie yet?"

"Yeah, she's going to meet me around eleven in the food court. So, tell me more about this Amy chick – what's she like?"

"Sheldon." Howard replied without a moment's hesitation. "I mean it, those two are so alike that it's kind of freaky – I wondered whether it was some subliminal conditioning set up by their parents in order for them to get together; but apart from a general enquiry here and there throughout the years, neither one has seemed particularly interested in the other. Until Sheldon though that there was a chance that Amy would be moving in across the hall, that was when he started following her career through articles that she's had published, and I think Amy mentioned that she's actually read one of Sheldon's thesis papers."

"Cool. So, she's okay then? Not like that freaky Ramona?"

"No, Amy's okay…plus she seems to like Star Wars, so what's not to like? If we finish up the marathon early, I might try to find out a little more about her – want me to fill you in on any juicy details if I manage to pry any secrets out of her?"

"You betcha!" They exchanged a high five and Raj appeared from the bedroom; dressed in the same pants as the day before but now sporting a black Darth Vader t-shirt, embellished in silver.

"Ooh, nice shirt Raj! That's a new one isn't it?" Penny asked, already expecting nothing more than a nod or a shake of a head in response. Raj nodded, and quickly left the apartment. Howard looked at Penny and shrugged – "At least he nodded, that's more than he could do a year ago…I might ask Amy whether she knows anything about selective mutism…I bet she'd love to attach all kinds of electrodes to his brain."

"Yeah, she's some kind of brain doctor isn't she?"

"Neurobiologist, she's working on a primate study over at UCLA; but there's a slim chance that she might be coming over to CalTech for another study next year." Howard called out from the bathroom, and Penny walked into her bedroom to pull out a few clothes for the day. "Penny, I forgot to grab my bag; could you pass it to me please?"

"Okey dokey." Penny walked back into the living room and picked up Howard's bag, wincing at the weight of the thing. "Jeez, did you pack a few rocks in there as well?"

"No, just my pocket light sabres…a couple of games in case we get bored; change of clothes…you know, the usual." Howard's voice was muffled by the towel as he stretched out a hand around the bathroom door. Penny placed the bag in his hand and retreated back into the living room before Howard could give her the full peep show. He emerged a few minutes later and after a quick wave of thanks disappeared back across the hall and Penny soon heard the familiar soundtrack start up again. She shook her head trying to figure out what on earth Amy found so appealing about sitting through nearly another eight hours of the saga; and then glanced over at the clock to see that it was almost half past nine. "Better jump in the shower if I want to meet Bernadette on time…Fifteen minutes apiece, hah! In your dreams, Sheldon Cooper!"


	12. Chapter 12

Six hours and several hundred dollars later, a weary Penny and Bernadette made their way up the stairwell to the fourth floor. They stopped on the landing and pressed an ear to the door of 4B.

"If Episode VI's still playing I'm not going in there." Bernadette announced as Penny strained to listen.

"And how exactly am I supposed to be able to tell the difference?" She muttered under her breath and felt one of Bernadette's deceptively sharp elbows jab in her side. Penny shuffled over so that Bernadette could crouch down to listen.

"Hmm…I don't hear any snores coming from inside; so they haven't collapsed from exhaustion; I do hear music though…doesn't sound like anything I've heard from Star Wars before." Bernadette started humming under her breath and then straightened up with a gasp. "Sonofabitch! They're either watching Footloose or playing Dance Revolution – either way Howie's in big trouble!" Bernadette flung the door open and was greeted with a sight that made her jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Come on Howard! You and Leonard have got this!" Raj cheered from his position in the armchair that had been pushed back against the kitchen counter in order to make room for the dance mats that were hooked up to the two televisions. Howard had proposed that they needed an eye break from watching the saga and suggested Dance Revolution; Sheldon was initially reluctant but when Amy said that she wanted to play, he had dragged the spare television set out of his bedroom and Raj had made a quick run over to his apartment to collect his game system and dance mat. Currently Amy and Sheldon were dancing their hearts out to the theme from Footloose; with Howard and Leonard struggling to keep up.

"Howard Wolowitz!" Bernadette screeched from the door and Howard was so in the zone he barely registered her presence.

"Leonard, suck it in and dance your bootie off – we can't let Sheldon and Amy win, how embarrassing would that be for cripes sake, neither of them have ever played before and they're beating us!"  
>"I have asthma, remember." Leonard panted out as he fought to keep his feet on the mat. "I told you to partner up with Raj in this round, but for some strange reason you wanted me on your team. You picked me, so suck it up and take your loss like a man."<p>

"I picked you because I thought you would pick The Timewarp – not frickin' Kenny Loggins!" Howard snapped back, still unaware of Hurricane Bernadette in the doorway.

"I told you, my finger slipped!"

"Uh – oh, Howard I think you may be in trouble." Sheldon sang out from his own mat; still managing to keep his feet moving along in rhythm.

"Shut up Sheldon, I'm trying to concentrate!" Howard muttered as he struggled to keep his feet moving without bumping into Leonard.

"I'll give you concentrate, Howard Wolowitz! You told me that you were watching those lame old movies again, and so I decided to go to the Galleria with Penny – instead I find you bopping along to Dance Revolution; paired up with Leonard of all people!" Bernadette shoved Leonard off the mat at the same time as kicking off her shoes. "Move it, wheezy! Howard, let's kick it up a notch. Now, left! Right! Kick! Pump!"

"Who is that?" Amy murmured to Sheldon as they continued with the same crazy dance routine.

"That's Howard's fiancé, Bernadette; she can be a little competitive sometimes. Ignore her and just focus on winning this thing." Sheldon replied and Amy smirked a little at the thought of someone like Sheldon wanting to win at something as simple as an Xbox dance off. Penny leant against the doorframe and watched the competition heat up until both teams collapsed at the end of the round.

"And the winner is…Sheldon and Amy!" Raj announced from the chair, presenting them both with a certificate that he'd printed off earlier.

"I see someone's been in the beer today." Penny announced as she strolled into the apartment, Raj immediately froze up; his eyes going wide with panic as he realised that Penny was actually inside the room. He hadn't had a problem speaking with Amy at all that morning, and Bernadette scared him so he didn't feel self-conscious around her; having Penny around was an entirely different problem. "I guess not…" Penny stated as Raj dived into the fridge, looking for a bottle of alcohol…at that point anything would do.

"How comes Amy and Sheldon won? Howie and I really kicked it up at the end; I saw our score get up into the twenty five hundreds…That has to be a new record."

"Unfortunately not, Bernadette; despite the fact that you were an illegal entrance into the competition…Sheldon and Amy's score still topped yours by twelve thousand." Raj swallowed a mouthful of the bottle of ale that he'd found at the back of the fridge and was finally able to speak again.

"Sonofabitch!" Bernadette yelled out again, "That is almost impossible! Sheldon doesn't dance! How could he have beaten our score? You know what, never mind! Penny take Howard's place…Raj pick a track, any track; Penny and I will beat the pants off of you all."

"Very well, Amy and Sheldon; do you accept the challenge?" Raj looked over and saw Sheldon lean over to whisper something to Amy.

"We do." Sheldon announced as Amy nodded her approval.

"I will reset each team's score back to zero. The song is…Born to Handjive from the movie 'Grease'..." Raj made a random selection and heard Howard groan from the couch.

"We could have taken them with this one, Leonard."

"You snooze, you lose." Bernadette snapped at her fiancé and clicked her fingers over at Penny. "Come on, Penny."

"Bernie, my feet hurt." Penny protested as she kicked off her pumps and removed her sweater.

"Don't be a big cry baby…move it sister!"

"Places everyone…four, three, two, one…go!" Raj hit play and the music started. It took a little while for Sheldon to get into it, but before long he and Amy were on fire.

"Oh my God, it's like I'm watching Danny and Sandy in the gymnasium all over again…" Raj sighed as he watched Amy and Sheldon synchronise their arm movements perfectly together.

"Aren't you supposed to be impartial, Raj?" Leonard muttered from the couch as he and Howard started echoing the arm motions.

"The scores don't lie, dude."

_'I could barely walk when I milked a cow, when I was three I pushed a plow_

_While Chopping wood, I move my legs and I started dancin' while I gathered eggs_

_Bowed and clapped, I was only five_

_And I danced 'em all, he's born to hand-jive_

_Oh yeah, yeah, yeah – everybody_

_Born to hand-jive, baby, born to hand-jive, baby – yeah'_

"Push it, Penny; work through the pain." Bernadette muttered to Penny and heard her groaning next to her.

"It's too hard, I can't do it."

"If they can do it, we can do it better. Now shake those legs!" Bernadette snapped and Penny did her best to keep up with the whirling dervish otherwise known as Bernadette.

_'How low can you go, how low can you go, how low can you go, how low can you go_

_Higher, higher, higher and higher_

_Now can you hand-jive, baby, oh can you hand-jive, baby_

_Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, born to hand-jive – Oh Yeah!'_

"It's a miracle! Amy and Sheldon have done it again!" Raj cheered out from the armchair and Amy started jumping up and down in excitement.

"I can't believe I actually won at something! This is turning out to be the best weekend of my life!"

"Listen up cupcake, I'll let you have your little victory for now…" Bernadette leant in toward Amy threateningly. "But I'll have you know that if this were Karaoke, my Howard would have left your butt in the dust."

"Bernadette! You can't speak to Amy that way, she is my special guest this weekend; and might I remind you that even I and Leonard's mother managed to beat Howard when she stayed over a few years back." Sheldon stepped in between Amy and Bernadette in full on protective mode; a move which did not go unnoticed by the rest of the group.

"Yeah?" Bernadette edged closer to Sheldon, until they were nose to nose; or rather her nose to the middle of his chest due to her diminutive stature.

"Leonard, back me up here." Sheldon called over, and Leonard replied in a weary tone.

"Yes, I believe I did witness the miracle that was my mother rocking out to 'Anyway You Want It' – I think my eardrums were permanently damaged from their caterwauling."

"Bring it on…" Bernadette beckoned and Sheldon swallowed hard against flame of revenge blazing behind her blue eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Extreme OOC behaviour from Sheldon ahead... he can't let Bernadette get the better of him, and so faces the ultimate of challenges...Extreme Karaoke!**

"Ooh, I think we just went global detonation, people!" Raj called out from the safety of the armchair. "Who wants to play 'Extreme Karaoke'?"  
>"Count me out, I'm still wheezing from being kicked out of Footloose." Leonard took another puff of his inhaler and shook his head.<p>

"Goody! That means I get Penny on my team! Girl, we are gonna rock out!"  
>"I need a drink." Penny stated as she wandered out of Sheldon's apartment to grab a couple of bottles of wine from her apartment. She came back in and set the wine down on the breakfast bar. "Anyone else?" Everyone except for Sheldon raised their hand, and he looked over at Amy in surprise.<p>

"Amy, I didn't know that you drank alcohol?"  
>"Just on social occasions, and rarely more than a single glass…I find that it helps lower my social anxieties a little."<p>

"Indeed it does." Penny stated as she crossed over with a small glass of desert wine for Amy. "This one is a little on the sweet side, think of it as apple juice with a little kick. It's got quite a low alcohol content so you'd be okay if you had more than one glass, Amy." Amy accepted the glass and took a tentative sip, she smiled as the sweet taste hit the back of her throat.

"Oh, that's very nice. I must get the name of that one before I go." She turned to Sheldon, "You should give this one a try, Penny's right, it is quite sweet with just a hint of alcohol."

"Maybe just a small taster would be alright." Sheldon said and Penny grinned as she ran back over to the counter to grab Sheldon a glass. She slopped some of the sweeter wine into the glass and placed it in his hand. He wrinkled his nose up a little at the smell, but took a small sip anyway.

"Oh my, that is quite delectable…Yummy!" Sheldon knocked the rest of the glass back in one hit and held it out for a refill. Penny poured a slightly larger glass and held it out to him. "Easy there tiger…It's not lemonade, and you're not used to it." Raj emerged from the closet with the karaoke gear and set up near the television.

"Okay, there are six of us…there's eighteen tracks; so I say we each take a single track as a solo and then pair up for two vocal sing offs. I've written the song tracks down on some slips of paper. Leonard will place them in a box and randomly select the songs."

"Let's do this thing…Leonard draw the first song if you please." Howard gave a little drumroll on the arm of the chair as Leonard fished inside the box for a song and then in a separate box for the team name.

"Okay, first up we have…Bernadette who will be singing…'New York, New York'; anytime you're ready Bernie." Bernadette stepped up to the mic and belted out her rendition of the track…scoring a measly thirty points. Leonard kept score on one of the whiteboards and crossed out the song track from the list written down the other side. "Okay, next up is…Raj, and he will be singing…'Genie in a Bottle'.

Raj swung his hips as he sang along with Christina Aguilera and managed to score a reasonable 160 points. Leonard noted the score down and selected another player. Next up was Penny with an Everley Brothers track; scoring an even lower score than Bernadette with only twenty five points, and then Sheldon who was picked to sing 'The Model Major General' from The Pirates of Penzance; Sheldon was the top scorer so far with an impressive 170 points. Then it was down to Howard and Amy; Howard was picked to perform 'Guilty' by Barbra Streisand; he smiled widely as he stepped up to the mic.

"Barbra's records were played so often in my house growing up, she's practically family." He stated as the music started; out of everyone that performed so far, he gave the best in key performance; but still tied with Sheldon receiving 170. Finally Leonard drew the final solo song out of the box and held it up.

"And finally we have the newcomer to our group, Amy…Let's give her a round of applause just for coming into this crazy crowd!" Everyone yelled and cheered, nicely buzzed from the wine. "The song choice for Amy is…'Hey Louise' by Neil Diamond!"

"I always sing Neil Diamond!" Howard protested from the end of the couch, and Leonard held up his hand.

"You may still get your chance, Howard. Out of the eighteen tracks randomly selected there were two Neil Diamond songs; Amy has the first but the second will be appearing in the next round. I'm not going to reveal what the song is just yet, but you could have a little competition on your hands."

"Let it be 'America' or 'Sweet Caroline' or 'Love on The Rocks'." Howard sent a brief prayer up to whoever was listening, he was an avid Neil Diamond fan and those were the songs he regularly selected on Karaoke nights; so he knew them by heart. However, his little heart was doomed to be crushed when he heard Amy rocking out with the mic…she wasn't even facing the television to see the lyrics. "We're all doomed…"

_'Hey my Louise, if I take you home will you make me plead?_

_My sweet amour, if I come too close will you close the door?_

_Oh ma Cherie, do you know my name?_

_I remember yours_

_And I know what you need, what you need my Louise…'_

Amy finished with a flourish, and turned to look at her score. "190, yes!" She pumped the air, and turned around to exchange a high five with Sheldon, who grabbed her by the waist and swung her around.

"We're on fire tonight, little lady!"

"Go, Amy!" Penny yelled out in encouragement from where she was sprawled over by Raj's feet.

"Okay, settle down. With a combined score of three hundred and sixty points Amy and Sheldon take the lead. In second place we have Howard and Bernadette with 200, and in last place we have Penny and Raj with 185. Next up, our first duel…Penny and Raj against Howard and Bernadette…the song is 'Summer Nights' from Grease!" Leonard randomly picked the song and Raj squealed like a little girl as he raced everyone to the mic. It somehow wasn't a surprise when he and Penny topped 250 points leaving Howard and Bernadette in the dust with their 125. "Now it's Amy and Sheldon against Penny and Raj…the song is…'Secret Love' from the musical 'Calamity Jane'."

"Don't worry, Sheldon; I've got this."

"I'm not worried, I spent many a pleasant afternoon watching musicals with Meemaw. I could sing this one with my eyes closed; it is one of Meemaw's favourites."

"I don't know this one, Raj. It's down to you, buddy."

"Penny! I don't know it either! My musical education only goes back as far as 'Funny Girl'!"

"Fake it then!" Penny muttered as she and Raj stumbled their way through the entire thing; not surprisingly Amy and Sheldon scored high again; reaching the dizzying heights of 225 points – Raj and Penny, 0.

"So, it's all down to this – the final round. So far we have Amy and Sheldon leading with 585 points, followed by Raj and Penny with 385, Howard and Bernadette trail behind with 325. With Raj and Penny having performed both of their tracks, Howard and Bernadette need to score at least sixty points or higher to remain in the game; or another 260 to even up with Amy and Sheldon. So…the final song selection for tonight is…'America' by Neil Diamond! You're up, Howard…"

_'Far, we've been travelling far, without a home but not without a star_

_Free, only want to be free, we huddle close, hang on to a dream…'_

Amy and Howard were facing off head to head, with Bernadette and Sheldon murmuring along whenever they found a place to jump in. When they reached mid-way through the song; Bernadette and Howard had racked up an amazing 500 points – but Sheldon was determined not to go down without a fight.

_'Got a dream to take them there_

_They're coming to America_

_Got a dream they've come to share_

_They're coming to America_

_They're coming to America_

_They're coming to America_

_They're coming to America_

_They're coming to America_

_They're coming to America_

_Today, today, _

_Today, today, today…'_

Sweat was pouring down Sheldon's back as he and Bernadette yelled out the words 'today' every time they appeared on screen. Their scores were now tied and it all depended on the last bridge.

_'My country tis of thee (TODAY)_

_Sweet land of liberty (TODAY)_

_Of thee I sing (TODAY)_

_Of thee I sing _

_TODAY, TODAY, TODAY_

_TODAY, TODAY…' _

"We have a clear winner, ladies and gentlemen; it was a close call but Amy and Sheldon win with a total score of 1250 points!" Screams filled the apartment as Amy and Sheldon started jumping up and down with excitement; yelling and fist pumping the air. There was a loud thump and everyone turned around to see the front door fly back on its hinges.

"Somebody wanna fill me in on who's fixin' ta have a conniption fit in here? I heard a might catty whumpas from clear down the hall…thought someone was dyin'…ain't none of y'all gonna invite an old lady in ta sit down?"

"Aunt Ellie!" Amy cried out happily and raced across the room to enfold the newcomer in a warm hug.

"Meemaw?" Sheldon made his way across the room and stood before his grandmother, staring at her in disbelief for a moment before he swallowed hard and wrapped his lean arms around her tiny frame; drawing her in close to his body. Amy stepped back a little, before Sheldon held out his hand to her… "Stay…" he whispered softly and Amy stepped back inside the circle of his arms and pressed her face against Meemaw's lavender scented skin.


	14. Chapter 14

"So, Amy you finally managed to meet up with my little Moonpie after all these years…tell me, honey what do you think of him?" Sheldon's Meemaw, Ellie was having a little catch up with Amy in Sheldon's bedroom while he was getting them both a warm cup of tea. Amy shrugged her shoulders as the question was of no importance.

"He's okay I guess..." Amy said airily before dissolving into chuckles with her favourite faux Auntie. "Oh Aunt Ellie, he's one of the nicest people I've had the good fortune to meet! We seemed to click straight away, I can't believe that we only met yesterday afternoon and we've been together ever since; he even gave me some of his clothes to wear whilst we were watching movies today."

"That's my Moonpie for you, he does love those sciency movies…he must like you an awful lot, sugar if he's giving you his shirt to wear. My Shelly is a bit particular about certain things and he doesn't even let his Mama wash his clothes in with hers whenever he's visiting home."

"That's because she uses a fabric softener that irritates my skin, I only use the sensitive type and Mama says it's too expensive." Sheldon remarked as he carefully carried a small tray containing three mugs of tea into his bedroom and set them down on his chest of drawers. "There you go, Meemaw – lemon zinger for you and Chamomile with honey for Amy and myself." Amy and Ellie smiled in thanks as they sipped their tea and Sheldon sat on the edge of his bed next to his Meemaw. Amy was curled up on the floor with her back resting against the wall.

"Shelly, don't be a poor host; let the poor girl sit on your bed – she ain't got cooties!"

"Aunt Ellie, it's fine. Sheldon did offer me a seat on the bed but it felt a little strange as we've only known each other for just over a day." Amy smiled over at her Mother's godparent to reassure her that Sheldon had been a perfect gentleman, just as he was raised.

"Has it really only been that?" Sheldon asked with a quirky smile, "It feels much longer to me, and I say that in a good way."

"That's exactly what Flower said."

"Flower?" Sheldon asked with a grin. Ellie jerked her thumb over in Amy's direction.

"You can blame Missy and George for that cute little moniker; they never could get her surname right. They started calling her 'Flower' after that cute little skunk in Bambi, on account of Amy being so shy when they first met and her surname being 'Fowler'. Easy for them ta git confused."

"Flower huh?" Sheldon grinned over at Amy and she shook her head in mock disapproval.

"You call me that in public and I might just have to call you…what is it Aunt Mary calls him again?" Amy wrinkled her nose up slightly as she tried to bring the nickname to mind. "Ah yes…'Snickerdoodle', or maybe I'll just call you 'Moonpie' like Aunt Ellie."

"Only my Meemaw…" Sheldon started to say and Amy chorused along with him.

"Gets to call me 'Moonpie'." Amy grinned again. "Maybe I'll just call you 'Shelly'; until I was fourteen or so I thought you were a girl anyway. Imagine my surprise when my mother revealed that Shelly was actually a girl! I was quite disappointed at the time, I thought we were destined to be best friends and how could I ever be best friends with a boy."

"You never realised on your visits back to Texas? Didn't you ever see my picture?" Sheldon asked, a little confused over the mix up. Amy shook her head as she thought about all of the brief visits to Galveston.

"No, until I was in High School all of our visits were mainly long weekends; once I started skipping grades and you were at Caltech; Aunt Mary and your Meemaw started visiting us in Glendale instead. My mother then started longer visits to Texas when I was at Harvard."

"Well you've met now, so all's well that ends well. Now, Shelly I'd better be getting these old bones back to Iris's before your Mother sends out a search party for me." Ellie handed her empty cup back to Sheldon and then rose tiredly to her feet, it had been a long flight from Texas and she should have gone straight over with Mary to Glendale but had wanted to see her favourite grandson first.

"Are you going to be in town very long, Aunt Ellie? I'd love it if you could stay over at my place one night; we could have one of our old time movie nights like we used to back when I was in school. I have lots of leave that I haven't taken this year so we could make it a marathon." Amy got up as well, placing her own mug neatly on the tray and turning it slightly so that the handle faced the same way as the other two. Sheldon gave a faint smile at her action, thinking it was the same thing he'd have done himself.  
>"That'd be real nice, Flower. We're in town for a few weeks, so I'll chat with Iris to see what she has in store for us and then give you a call." Ellie pulled Amy into a warm, lavender scented hug and kissed her cheek. "Missed you, sweetheart."<br>"Missed you, too." Amy whispered into her shoulder and Ellie brushed away a tear that had fallen from Amy's green eyes. She'd always felt a kinship to the quiet girl that had stayed on the outskirts of the rambunctious Cooper clan and now she felt that Amy had been destined for her Shelly the whole time. Ellie turned to Sheldon and enveloped him in a warm hug like she had Amy.

"Night, Moonpie…you take care of my little Flower here, and I'll see you real soon."

"Night, Meemaw." Sheldon murmured to his grandmother, choosing to ignore her statement about Amy for the time being. It was true that he had felt an immediate connection with this green eyed vixen but that didn't mean he was ready to be pair bonded for life, not just yet, anyway. "Come on, I'll ask Howard or Raj to drop you over in Glendale on their way home. Both of them practically pass the bridge on their way, so it won't be any bother."

"That'd be real sweet if they could. You make sure to ask nicely, Moonpie!" Ellie called to Sheldon's retreating back and he waved a hand to indicate that he'd heard her. Amy tucked her hand into the crook of Ellie's elbow and they followed Sheldon into the living room where Howard and Bernadette were just collecting their things together.

"Mrs Cooper, Bernie and I would be pleased to drop you at Mrs Fowler's house." Howard said with a slight smile as he noticed Ellie and Amy walking through from the hallway.

"That's mighty kind of you, Howard is it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Please, call me Ellie…ma'am makes me feel old; and I ain't quite there yet, sonny!"

"Yes, ma'am… I mean, no you're certainly not…Ellie." Howard gave Ellie a proper grin and held out his arm as he clicked his heels. "Your chariot awaits."

"Well, thank ya kindly young sir." Ellie accepted Howard's arm and winked over at Bernadette. "Ya need ta be careful with this one, honey…or I might just steal him right out from under your nose."


End file.
